Scarface One
by admljmc8492
Summary: Scarface 1's journey started when he was a member of the Belkan Airforce. Then after getting backstabbed by the Belkan High Command, leaves to fight rebels in Sotoa. Heavily inspired by Air Combat, Ace Combat 2, and Ace Combat Assault Horizon Legacy. OCs are now welcomed.
1. Chapter 1

Part 1: The Belkan War

1500 Hours

Los Canas

2007

Brett Thompson, who worked with the Osean Broadcasting channel, learned of an Ace that was involved in numerous conflicts across the world. Rumors had it that this ace fought in The Belkan War, The Usean Continental Rebellion, The Tyumen Dispute, and the Usean Continental War. Rumors or not, Thompson was determined to interview him in order to see his view of conflicts and if he had any information on the Demon Lord of the Round Table and to ask questions about his involvement with the mercenaries.

So he is now sitting here with me, Wolfgang Schmidt, in order to complete his project. I myself, have blue eyes and brown hair. I am also fluent in many different languages due to the fact I've been to many different countries like Romny, Kaluga, Yuktobania, Osea, Belka, and Erusea. "My name is Wolfgang Schmidt; I was born in the Belkan Federation around the year 1975 in the city of Tauberg. Growing up I could see the construction of Excalibur. At this time it was nothing but a foundation for the sword. I always wanted to become a fighter pilot, in order to protect the fatherland. My father was from Belka and my mom was from Ustio which was known at the time was East Belka." I said introducing myself to the reporter.

"Nice to meet you." said Brett as he shook my hand. "I have a lot of questions."

"I can tell. What do you want to know?" I said in a voice that sounded wise, at least I thought it sounded that way.

"I want to know everything about your time in the Belkan Air force and your Mercenary career." Brett responded as he got his camera out.

"My story? It begins the first week the Belkan War began. I was not assigned to any squadron at the time. I was one of few pilots to be assigned a Su-37 fighter, seems how Gelb team was the only squadron to use them. I was stationed near the border also known as B7R. It was a typical mission. There was this guy whose name was 'Pixy' who was flying into our Priority Airspace."

"I interviewed him. He didn't mention you. Then again I asked him only about The Demon Lord." Brett said.

"Well let me continue."

[Begin Flashback] "Alright, this is Vogel to all allied planes! We have a small squadron headed our way!" I said as I flew my plane southeast. "So I assume it's you Larry?" There was just Pixy in his F-15 surrounded by F-5s. The small F-5s were being piloted by rookies. Pixy was the only one there to really do anything against the Belkan squadrons.

"Wolfgang? Is that you?" Pixy said as he flew straight towards Wolfgang.

"Yes, how's the Usties treating you?" I said as I pulled the joystick left and down to make a sharp turn to follow Pixy.

"Hey!" An allied Belkan AWACS said, "Shut up and engage!"

"Yes sir!" I said as I got a lock on Pixy. "Take this!" I then launched two sidewinders at Pixy's plane. One of the missiles missed while the other blew his right wing off.

"Damn you!" Pixy said through the headset, "I'll make it back. I know it."

The HUD ID for Pixy went from green to yellow for neutralized. "You're going to be forced to eject, Larry." I said turning in the opposite direction to return to base.

"That's what you think..." Pixy said as his plane left the mission area.

The allied planes took down the rest of the squadron of only three. There was just Pixy in his F-15 surrounded by F-5s.

[End Flashback] "So you're the reason why he is called Solo Wing?" Brett asked.

"Yes, I am." I quietly said looking down at my hands. "I meet him on the ground a couple of months later on my birthday."

"And what day was that?" Brett asked as he continued to film me.

"June 6, 1995." I said with a tear coming down my eye. I said the date very quietly but Brett heard what I said.

"I am so sorry, I didn't know." he said as he turned his camera off. "Your fine. It was a very hard day for me. Half of my family died that day, and I couldn't stop it. No matter how many bombers that me and my fellow South Belkans shot down. It still happened. Every time someone tells me happy birthday, I collapse into tears to a tragedy that we could've prevented. After the war we blamed it on the Right Wing extremists that brought the nation to hell. You have to be the Devil to nuke your own country. I will tell you more about it in an hour or so. I need to regain my composure." I said going to the bathroom to wash my face that became red and watery due to the tears that came. I started to remember the people I met at Valais air force base and my flight to Kaluga. I will tell you about my story and how I became a force of different rebels' downfalls.

An hour later, I and Brett sat down again. I was going to tell him of my defection and of Belka's fall. I pulled myself some Usy Cola which I loved so much since I was introduced to it by a friend on arrival here in Usea so long ago. I never thought that I would enjoy living here in Usea so much to the point that I forget what Belka was like. Los Canas is also a lot different than Sudentor. Here in Los Canas you can breathe the air with not so much trouble, while in Sudentor, the air was not as breathable (it was because of the blasted munitions facility).

The weather here was also a lot pleasant while in Sudentor the weather was stormy and the fog always covered the sky. Which I guess is the reason why I became a pilot. When I was young growing up, I never saw the blue sky until a visit to my aunt, who happened to live in Tauberg. During my visits, I would occasionally go to the Excalibur construction site and watched it grow.

Two years before the Belkan War, I watched them test fire it into space. It was perhaps the most exhilarating sight in my entire life. Watching the sky split in two because of the laser was indeed a sight. Learning of its destruction brought a tear to my heart. I remember the radio broadcasts stating that the Tauberg Sword has been pulled from the stone.

During my time in school, we read various books about the history of the fatherland. From the first Belkan tribes, to the middle ages (which heavily impacts our culture to this vary day), and to the rise of the Great King Dinsmark (who united Belka into what it is today, well before The Belkan War at least), and the Osean-Belka War of 1910 in which our air force took the mantle of the Belkan Knights.

It is said that modern Belkans are direct descendants to these knights. Coming from a Belkan like myself, we automatically believed that. We also learned a lot more advanced fields than the Oseans, such as advanced math and science. Obedience, honor, and strength were the main point in Belkan schools when I was a kid growing up. It has all changed now since the fall of the Rald party.

South Belka was now a part of our most hated enemy: Osea and the nuclear wasteland have blocked all land routes into the country, well except for East Belka. I was actually supported the cession of Ustio and the other territories and I was somewhat opposed to the declaration of war against Ustio, Sapan, Osea, and Yuktobania. How could we win 1 vs. 4?

Maybe that's what the government put all of the students in advanced classes for. To have an edge against the allied nations. We still lost but around this time I was halfway across the planet. In some small country called Kaluga.

"So Mr. Schmidt, ready to tell me the rest of your story?" asked Brett as he turned on the camera.

"Yes, I am. Brett, is it? I asked him as we sat down to talk.

"Yes sir." he said as I started to tell my story.

[Flashback]

"This is Vogel. Requesting permission to land." I said through the mic inside my aircraft as I closed the throttle and pushed the stick forward. The sky was clear blue and small clouds dotted the sky. Here, in central Belka, the airbase Hammerung was where I was stationed. Green fields surrounded the airbase and various farmhouses dotted the landscape. Hoffnung was located southeast and Sudentor was south of it.

"Did you enjoy the engagement?" asked a fellow Belkan pilot."You had to've. There was only a couple to bounce." he said as he followed me to land.

"Yeah, but it felt a little... odd. Only 4 fighters?" I replied knowing that 4 fighters couldn't take down the mighty Belkan Knights of the Round Table. Even though 1-2 months later saw the collapse of B7R to the allied nations (which I will get to).

"Save the talk for when you land. Permission Granted" said the air traffic controller in a very annoyed voice.

"Yes sir." I and the Belkan pilot said as we landed on the runway.

Back in the barracks, I did some meditating on what I would do. Most of the fighting was taking place on the frontlines near the Great Lakes Region and Ustio. Seems like the base command here just

decided to put me on reserve to fly against any incursions in B7R and here in the Fatherland. I didn't mind it as much. This was just the time in which I felt it safe to say that we were winning the war. I then got up from my cot and picked up my Belkan Air force Leather flight jacket and decided to go to the bar for a drink. Drinking when your 18 is actually legal here in Belka. Well as long as you're in the military at least. "So if it isn't the Phoenix of Belka!" said the Barkeeper as I entered the bar located in the neighboring town. "What can I get you?"

"Just a little rum is all. I don't want much." I said as he gave me what I asked for. It wasn't too bad but this would be my last since it really didn't agree with my stomach.

"Ha-ha, too young, more you drink the more you get used to it!" the Barkeeper said as more pilots from the base came in and had themselves a nice drink.

"Yeah, no today." I said as I gave him the money for the drink.

Their was Belkan soldiers singing Der Nightingale near a pianist. There was also a couple in a corner knocked out because they got too drunk. The bar itself was actually an Inn and the owners decided to build a bar to make a little extra money during the Belkan Depression. I then asked for some Riese cola which a started to drink since I wasn't very fond of alcohol. While I was drinking it, a blond haired guy with blue eyes sat down next to me. It was Ashley Bernitz, known in the air force as being Grabarc one. He was a mean one, and very cold hearted. He hated Osea and Yuktobania with such a passion, that we all could tell that deep within his heart, he wanted to see them nuked to the ground. "So if it isn't Vogel." he said as he turned his gaze upon me.

"I heard stories about you, Ashley." I replied as he reached his hand out to shake mine.

"I heard stories about you too. You flew with Silber during the Rectan War and downed more planes then them. I was wondering if you would join Grabarc. We could use someone like you. You are a freelance aren't you?" he said as he drank a beer.

"Yes I heard stories about you too. Sorry, Ashley not interested." I replied as I got up and left the bar.

I will never join Grabarc, they are worse than Schwarz. Same with Ofnir. I will never join those snakes. They fly with hate not with pride.

The past weeks have been brutal. The Allied forces have managed to break through Futuro Canal and have since then been mounting up air raids after air raids into our nation. Then the Ustian uprising of Directus which combined with a small allied force, managed to liberate the city. Again, I was stuck here in the airbase without any orders. Even though 2 weeks ago I managed to shoot down a SR-71 as it was dropping speed during a skirmish near the Great Lakes region.

They usually fly at a high altitude and assume they are safe (because of the fur ball below) and drop down to 1000 Mph. As it did this, I fired a XMA4 at it and took the right engine out. After that I shot it with my gun. I don't know how I managed to do it, but I did. That was 2 weeks ago, now we learned that Excalibur, The Sword of Belka, was under attack. It was fairly close and again, I was prohibited from taking off.

"Vogel, you will not take off!" the control tower operator told me as I jumped into the cockpit. "You will be written up for this!"

"I have family in Tauberg! We are supposed to protect our citizens! Not sit back and watch them suffer!" I yelled back in the mic as is sped off the runway. The mic then when silent and then I heard a familiar voice in the mic. "You can keep going, Wolfgang Schmidt. Go protect your family." It was Wolfgang Buchner. He was a Lt. Colonel in the Belkan Air Force. We all looked up to him for advice and he was very cynical about the Rald Party's involvement in Belka.

"Thanks Mr. Buchner." I replied in the mic.

"You're not going to be written up for this. I do have that kind of power you know." Buchner said, "Thanks." I replied knowing that he would look after me. He was like my father figure in the Air Force. He also personally trained me when I first flew in the air.

"Vogel engaged!" I said through the mic as I entered the airspace in Tauberg. The assault had already begun. I then checked my radar and noticed that a handful of enemy fighters were flying in circles around Excalibur. I then saw the light blue laser being fired up and down to try to hit the allied fighters. There were also these tiny railroad lasers that were trying to hit them (Through little to no success).

"New enemy planes entering Belkan Airspace." it was the enemy AWACS Eagle Eye. "Scratch that, one enemy plane entering airspace. Galm Team, continue Assault; Crow Team engage." "Are you crazy Eagle Eye?" It was Pixy. The pilot that I shot the wing off. "He's here."

"Who's 'he'?" said a young pilot who was about Pixy's age.

"Cipher, it's the guy that shot my wing off at the beginning of the war!" Pixy replied as they continued to shoot missiles at Excalibur.

"Nice to meet you again Pix." I said through the Mic. "But I'm too late. I'm sorry Tauberg. I tried my best." The laser then broke in half; the top of the emplacement slid off the bottom part and fell on the ground. To this day the wreckage is still there. The leaders of Belka refused to clean it up.

"Why are you backing off?" said Cipher as he and the other fighters were doing some fancy maneuvers around the remnant of Excalibur. "Are you going to stay here and fight?"

"No, I'm not. I was too late to defend Tauberg. Too late to defend Excalibur. You pulled the sword from the stone, Cipher. I have no interest in a dogfight now. Good day to you." I said as I turned my plane around and head back to base. I was too sad to fight; Belka lost her sword and me to. We are too busy bickering about accepting different pilots into the squadrons that we can't even defend the Pride of Belka against enemy attack.

A/N: In the next chapter we will take a brief look into Belka's air force strategy and the ace squadrons. Due to his family history (similar to Nazi Germany) some people were discriminated by the Rald regime. Since his part Yuke, Osean, and Ustian, his frowned upon. But to his comrades, his seen as the Phoenix.


	2. Chapter 2

Back at the base, I was talking to Wolfgang Buchner about the war. He was about my height and he had brown eyes. His was bald on the top of his head but he had hair going around his head. He was in his early forties and was the oldest son of Belkan Aristocrats. Like me, he didn't approve of the war. He was looking sad right now.

"The Rald Party..." Buchner said, "Is planning on dropping nuclear devices on our own soil."

"What?" I said, "Why?" "They claim that the north lands are the Holy Land of Belka." he said as he sat down on the bench next to him with his head in his hands. He had family in the south. Not only that we both thought it would be disgraceful to do such a thing.

"They just ordered me to do it too. Warning alarms are going off all over the place in B7R. If we lose this battle, then they will go forth with the plan. The operation will then be schedule for June 6." Buchner said.

The allies are sending planes to the Round Table. This is going to be the battle that will determine the victor of the Belkan War. If we win, then we can hold off until the munitions plant keeps the forces up, if we lose, it will be the end of South Belka.

"I heard Ashley tried to recruit you into Grabarc." Buchner said in a quiet voice.

"I turned him down, Pops." I replied.

"Don't call me Pops." he replied laughing a bit, "I know you nuggets look up to me..."

"You know that nickname is going to stick to you one day." I said.

"Anyway, Grabarc, Ofnir, and Schwarz are all just pawns of the Rald Party. Those three squadrons are the chancellor's personal bodyguard, no doubt about it." Pops said, "This system of the squadrons picking their wingman is screwed up. We should do what the allies are doing have the high command assign, not the squadron leaders. Once we lose a real powerful squadron, it's all over. While the allies the aces are the flight leads and they are assigned to them by AWACS."

"Yeah, I guess that's why we fly solo." I replied.

"I'm glad you didn't join Grabarc. They have bad reputations." He said.

I then looked past Buchner to see Ashley Bernitz looking at us as we talked. He glared at the two of us, especially Pops as we talked. Pops then turned around and saw Bernitz looking at us. The minute Pops looked at him, Bernitz took off.

"Well, Wolfgang Schmidt. It's time for me to go." Pops said as he got up and went to the hanger.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"I'm defecting." he said to me as he finished climbing into the Mig-21. "No doubt I will be followed."

Before I could say anything he drove the jet out of the hanger and went to the runway. I then heard a bunch of soldiers shouting orders to each other. I then heard the Base Commander's voice on the radio. "Hucklebein! Get back to the hanger! Radio Mt. Schirm base! Tell them to bring in Schwarz! We got a runner!"

Then after that, I saw the Grabarc Squadron take off in direction after Pops. Who just happened to be flying into B7R. It was time for me to defect too.

[End Flashback] "So I have a couple of questions for you, Mr. Schmidt." asked Brett as he took out a notepad to begin writing down answers.

"Ask away." I said, knowing that he would.

" You say you are a reserve pilot, but shouldn't Belka be putting all the pilots she has in to the breach since she's on the offensive at this point? The allies are beginning to push into Belka. I'm surprised you were not flying sorties non-stop." He asked me eyeing me as if suspecting something.

"You see it all comes down to the the fact that the squad leaders made the decision of who went on the sorties with them. My skill was usually looked down upon due to my age. I understand at the point of time we would be using all of the resources we had available, but due to the Rald Parties' inability to lead during a war, I was usually stuck in reserve." I responded.

"Ok. Still it doesn't make sense... The base command could've still sent you out." Brett replied as he wrote the notes of what I said.

" Did you decide to leave your country because Excalibur was destroyed or because you weren't assigned to any sortie?" He asked me.

"I decided to leave because Pops, my mentor, left. I also wanted to duel the Grabarc Squadron and bring them down. Schwarz lost interest and went after the Galm Team. While Grabarc 1 flew towards Heartbreak One and Pops I followed them and engaged the Grabarc Squad. Another reason was Belka's inability to defend her lands. The common belief is that we fought furiously, we did but the troops in the fatherland were slacking.

We were also afraid of The Demon Lord and the bombing of Hoffnung damaged our morals to the point that we knew we would lose. Fighting was our only option. Again that is the reason I left. Excalibur was our proud of joy, losing it gave us a huge loss of moral. My assignments may have been limited, but I haven't told you anything about my other sorties yet.

I know I stated that I hardly ever was on a sortie, but I'm having a difficulty remembering, I have been on plenty of sorties in USEA and Western Verusea that I've forgotten a lot about my Belkan War flights. That's way the information I have given you about the Belkan War is scarce." I replied, around this time my mouth was tired.

"Ok, well, I'll come back tomorrow and we can continue the interview." Brett said as he packed his stuff up.

Brett then left my home, to stay in a hotel that was down the street from where I lived. I walked into my room where I again washed my face. Then I took a quick glance at my memory cabinet. The cabinet that held most of what I remembered. Old discs, my Belkan Air force leather jacket was in there, the copy of a check that I received from my completion of the Kaluga Crisis. There was also a picture of me and my two wingmen, Slash and Edge. Edge was a female pilot that was born in the Osea Federation and Slash came from Ugellas, a country to the west of Los Canas. Well, now it's known as ISAF, but then again that was during the Continental War.

Now ISAF is going back to what it used to be: The Federal Coalition of USEA, which governed USEA before Erusea invaded. Erusea is now a member and is a vital member to the union's existence. Erusea is now a democratic republic instead of a federal military republic like it once was. I then thought to myself that what I told Brett by far was half the story. It's just been so long and I have been on sixty plus missions that I can't remember most of the Belkan War sorties. My memories during that time just felt like one long air sortie. Guess that's why I told him that I only flew a couple. Out of bad memory.

My fighter was at an airbase not far from Los Canas. Oddly enough, that fighter is the same one that I 'stole' from Belka. And I have kept it with me for the past twelve years. When he comes back tomorrow, I will sum up The Belkan War and tell him of the formation of STFS Scarface. The mercenary squadron that I would lead. Also through this squadron, I meet my wife.

It was around 8:00 when I decided to go for a walk around the countryside. Twelve years have passed since the Belkan War and my defection. I thought about Pops and where Bernitz was. Then about Cipher, the Demon Lord of the Round Table. Then I wondered how Thompson found me. Most likely through Larry Foulke. During the Continental War, me and him met each other and fought alongside each other.

Just like we did after the large air skirmish at B7R. It was in the border town/country Delarus where we met once more and fought together. I was expecting a cold welcome but instead was greeted gratefully. I was surprised that Cipher wasn't with him then he told me that the two fought each other at the end of the Belkan War. I was actually surprised. Those two were just so close to each other.

The only thing I heard from the end of the Belkan War was the Signing of the Treaty of Lumen and the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty signed by all nuclear powered countries. I heard this during a mission in Romny (A country bordering Kaluga to the south of Kaluga and west of Yuktobania).

I then climbed a small hill at the southern part of town and saw the moon rising. It was a crescent moon. Probably one of the most remembered events in my past seven years living here in Usea was the planet fall of the Ulysses1994xf04 asteroid. It was a simple patrol mission over Stonehenge, located to the south east of San Salvacion. At 3:30 PM Usean Time, the asteroid slammed into the planet. Usea got hit hard and a country located in eastern Anea got hit too. I think the countries name was Estovakia but I'm not sure.

Right now the Estovakians are waging a bloody civil war to determine the nation's future. Hard to tell whose enemy and whose friendly over there. No doubt I will get hired by them. But who, I don't know. I might just decline the offer. Right now I got to tell that reporter my story, I know he is considering and putting together the story now as we speak.

Then I started the long walk back to my medium sized house. Not sure what I'm going to do now. When I got back to my house I went back to my memoir cabinet. I then took a look at Belkan Air force ID. I look different now. In this picture, I'm not smiling, I was pale looking. Now, I got color and I'm a lot happier. Maybe being part of Scarface helped me... a lot. I'm proud of what I got here and tomorrow, I will finish my Belkan War story and move on to the Sotoa, Romny, and Kaluga crisis.

The next day I sat down with Brett Thompson again to talk more about The Belkan War. He settled up all of his equipment which consisted of a camera and a microphone. He then sat down at a chair that was placed across from me so that he could clearly ask questions.


	3. Chapter 3

"So we are going to pick up right where we left off- Pops has just taken off with Grabarc right behind him plus Schwarze." Brett said right after he pressed record on his camera.

"Yes, at this point I was running through the base, grabbing all the Intel I could get my hands on. I figured if I was going to defect, I was going to go with 'style'." I said as I started to remember what happened next.

[Begin Flashback]

The jets took off after Pops as he tried to outrun Grabarc and Schwarz. I knew Pops was perhaps the best Ace in the air force but I didn't think he would make it in a Mig-21 fishbed. I wanted to be up there in the sky to cover him as he crossed the border into the now-liberated Ustio.

Alarms started to go off in the base as I got into my jet pushing the throttle to full speed. I then checked my radar to adjust the IFF to change Belkan allies to enemies (yes it does have that option) and I looked at the radar to find that a Belkan ZSU 23 (anti-air) was headed to my position to try to destroy my jet.

My speedometer was now at 500 mph as my plane lifted off the runway. Through my helmet I could hear the voices of the base command saying that their reputations were now being dropped big time for being responsible for 2 defections. Little did I know I was heading into one of the biggest dogfight of my life.

"Wow that Hucklebein is flying weird." said Pixy as he flew close to his flight lead Cipher as they both observed B7R in their F-15s. They both shot down 80% of the Belkan air force that was stationed there to put the battle in the Allied Nations' favor.

"Enemy reinforcement's incoming!" said the Ustio AWACS officer in a panic.

"They have come to feed on the dead again." said Pixy as he and Cipher turned their planes around to face off against Schwarz, a team that flew eight Mig-31s. Their planes were painted a solid black with red outlines and there emblem was a skeleton with a snake coming out of the eye.

"Another plane on radar! It's the same guy from Excalibur!" replied the AWACS officer through the mic.

"This is Vogel to Ustio AWACS. Please allow me to defect to the allied nat..." I was then cut off by the Schwarz leader.

"Hucklebein is nothing to go after, let's take down the Mercenary Dream Team." Schwarz one said as he and his squadron engaged the Galm team. I took this chance to fly through the missile fire and flew straight to the area that Pops, Heartbreak 1, and Grabarc 1 were.

"Hucklebein? Hucklebein!" damn they must be on a different frequency. I fiddled with the radio until I was able to catch what was being said.

"I will shoot both of you down!" said Grabarc One as he played cat and mouse between him, Pops, and Heartbreak 1. "Hucklebein the traitor and you Bartlett for being so meddling!"

"Now listen here, Ashley. We are supposed to defend our nation! Not drop the nukes!" said Pops through the mic.

"Nukes? Hucklebein? What do you mean nukes?" said Bartlett through the mic. He then dodged more gunfire from Grabarc 1.

"The Rald Party knows what's best for Belka. They brought us out of this mess. We will win this war!" Grabarc 1 said as he started to chase down Pops instead.

"They do not!" I said through the mic. After I said that, everything went silent. "They are the true enemies here! Not Belka or the Allies!"

"So Grabarc 5 has decided to join the fight." Grabarc one said tauntingly into the mic as he switched his missiles to QAAMs. Right after he did that he launched them at Pops and Bartlett.

"This is for the Fatherland."Words that we use to say before every sortie, and every morning, but never before have I heard these words being growled with so much hate. The missiles hit both Pops and Heartbreak One. I dropped my speed down to make a confirmation to make sure the Osean and Pops were safe.

However while doing this I got strafed by Grabarc 1. So I was forced to go to afterburner speed. I was lucky enough that my plane didn't get blown up. Being called Grabarc 5 really ticked me off. I knew it was a tactic to make me lose my temper to allow him an easy kill off of me. But I ignored it as I wanted to shoot him down for killing Pops.

"My offer still stands, Schmidt. I can and will spare you now if you join Grabarc." he said as he flew in circles to confirm his two kills.

"No! I will never join Grabarc! I'm an ace that flies by honor! Not death and revenge!" I said through the mic as we both prepared to fly at each other head on.

"Fine then, pupil of Hucklebein. Prepare to die." Grabarc one said as we both sped at each other as if to joust.

"This is AWACS Eagle Eye to Belkan Defector Vogel." the AWACS officer said through the mic. He must've changed his frequency to the one that Heartbreak 1, Pops, and Grabarc 1 were using. His voice sounded like he was in his mid-twenties. Young for an AWACS officer, but he could get the job down, I give him that.

"Go ahead Eagle Eye! I'm in the middle of a dogfight!" I replied in the mic as me and Grabarc 1 flew passed him at Mach 1 and he did to. When we passed, we had less than 20 feel of air separating my plane from his. I then noticed the squadron's emblem of a snake with the words "Grabarc" written on it. I then looked to the bottom of the insignia to find the symbol of the Rald Party (which was a square with perpendicular lines in it with a red oval as a background.

"We almost have the entire airspace sanitized of enemy fighters! The Galm team are cleaning house. Take him down." Eagle Eye said through the mic as I pulled my craft to follow Grabarc 1. He then pulled off an immelmann turn in an attempt to get behind me to shoot me down. In order for me to evade, I did the exact flight maneuver in order to evade him. He fired a missile at me and I started to evade the missile by trying to turn right and pulling down on the flight stick. I then turned the after burners to try to gain altitude to evade him. He followed suit.

"It is the only way, Vogel." Grabarc 1 said through the mic, I could sense the hatred in him even as he spoke through the mic.

"Don't the teachings of Hucklebein and Silber 1 mean anything to you?" I said through the mic while evading his gun fire. "Don't fly with anger but with pride?"

"It doesn't matter to me. A new generation has taken to the skies and those old fools will never understand that! Hucklebein is the reason why we are losing this war!" he said as he started to slowly lose control of his plane. His SU-47 slowly started to lose stability in the high altitude.

I could tell that his flying was starting to get worse. His own anger was catching up with him. That is what Hucklebein and Silber 1 warned about, flying with hate really does interfere with skill and the ability to think straight. I then brought the plane around to get a good shot at his plane.

"Burn in hell!" I shouted through the mic as I shot him down with 2 missiles. At close examination, I could tell he ejected from his plane.

A couple minutes later, I found myself flying close to Cipher's and Pixy's F-15s. They both knew I wasn't the enemy anymore. A young pilot by the name of PJ gave me a warm welcome even though I was Belkan and I was the citizen of a nation that started a major war.

"Well then, Schmidt. Never thought I would be flying with you in the same sky as allies." said Pixy as we flew back to Valais Air force Base, Ustio.

"Yeah Schmidt, nice to meet you." said Cipher as he lead the formation back to the vital Ustio military instillation.

"Yeah! Schmidt, my names PJ and I are glad to meet another ace like Cipher and Pixy!" said the 19 year old pilot as he flew his plane close to mine.

"Nice to meet you all." I said through the mic. Personally, I couldn't believe that I defected. But then again, the politics of Belka prevented me from flying most of the time. When the Rald Party took power, they place heavy restrictions on people that didn't support the party. Like me and my family. We never supported the right wing extremist and due to my heritage of Ustian, Osean, Belkan, and Yuktobania. When I finally landed in Valais, I was faced with slight criticism but despite that, everything went well.

I was not allowed to fly in the Bombing of Hoffnung since I was caught up with paperwork in order to get my Osean citizenship papers together and for a military identification card with the Osean Air force. So I had to go the Osean Capital of Oured. Upon arrival, people glared at me and asked me the same question, "Why did your homeland have to start that war?" I could never answer the question, I was too busy worried about getting small rocks, and vegetables thrown at me. After 5-8 days of being in Oured, I was flown back to Ustio in order to prepare for another life changing event.

[End Flashback]


	4. Chapter 4

"So, Mr. Schmidt. You shot down Ashley Bernitz. How did you feel?" Brett asked as it was time for some questions.

"I felt a sense of accomplishment and sorrow for Pops. I had a feeling that he was dead. I never really got a confirmation on his death. Same with Heartbreak 1." I replied with a hint of sadness. "It really took you 2 weeks to change ID?" he asked.

"Yes, since I was Belkan, I wasn't allowed to use my Belkan ID, so I was forced to get citizenship and an ID with the Oseans." I replied, remembering the day I received my documents from the Osean Department of Naturalization.

"I don't have anymore questions, for now." Brett said as I started back up on my story.

[Begin Flashback]

"Alright! Listen up! Thanks to the troop strength Intel Wolfgang Schmidt has given us, we have determined the location of the Belkan Munitions plant located in Sudentor. The garrison there is small but due to the location of the munitions plant, heavily armed. Your mission is to fly to the Waldreich Mountains and provide support for the ground army arriving to liberate the city. These are the final days of the Belkan War. If we take Sudentor, Belka will be forced to consider surrender." said the base commander of Valais AFB. After the briefing, I met the Galm and Crow team. Pixy was looking pale and sad. PJ was being his usual joyful self while his two squad mates gave him a hard time about his girlfriend.

"Hey! Calm down!" I yelled as I walked towards them. "It's time to take off!"

"Wha- no Wolfgang! You calm down!" replied Cipher, "But you're right, it is time to take off."

The Waldreich Mountains, home to the tourist attraction Stier Castle. Stier Castle used to be the capital of Belka before the time of the great King Dinsmark. It was here that the honorable Belkan Knights made their home. It is said that the children's book A Blue Dove for the Princess took place in the castle. We were required to know this history during school.

I, Cipher, Pixy, and the Crow team were now flying above the castle. Pixy was lagging behind.

"Galm 2, you're flying behind. Is there something wrong with your craft?" PJ asked.

"No, I'm just kinda sad. Don't worry about me, I'll catch up." he replied, flying at a speed of 300 mph.

"So PJ? How's it feel to be remarried to your girl?" asked the Crow team leader.

"(Gasp) This is our first time we are getting married! Oh and Happy Birthday, Wolfgang!" PJ said as we all flew up to an altitude of 5000 feet.

"Thanks." I replied, unknowing what was going to happen today. "All planes! Belkan bombers equipped with nuclear warheads have taken off for Ustio!" Eagle Eye said as he began to assess the situation. They were flying dead south. Ten of them with fighter escort. Cipher flew off away from us and shot down 3 of the bombers. I followed suit and shot down 2 more. The planes were flying pretty weird. Some of the escorts started to fire on their own planes.

"Are they planning on wiping out our homeland from the face of the Earth?" a South Belkan pilot said as he downed a Belkan bomber. "Schmidt? Is that you?"

"Yeah. I defected to the Allied Nations in order to shoot them down." I replied. "They really do want to wipe the south lands off the map."

"Damn, let me fly back to Ustio with you. My name is Günter Heimoroth. Call sign Fawkes." Günter said as he flew his Mig-31 beside my plane. "Is that the Demon Lord?"

"Nice to meet you, Günter. Seems like Galm team has taken care of things." I said as I shot down an F-15.

Cipher fired three missles at three separate bombers, instantly disintgrating them, "And yes that is the Demon Lord."

"Please don't shoot me down. I heard things about you, Demon Lord of the Round Table." He sounded scared.

"Don't worry, I won't shoot you. I live by pride." Cipher replied.

The Galm team shot down the rest of the bombers while I sanitized the airspace of any hostile Belkan fighters.

"All bombers shot down! Congratulations! You all saved Ustio!" Eagle Eye said through the mic.

"Read 'em and weep, Belkans!" said Crow 2.

"Hey now!" me and Günter said at the same time.

"He he, sorry you two." replied Crow 2.

"God knows how many people we've saved today." As we started to fly back to base,"Time to end this pointless..." Cipher started as a bright light came out of nowhere. A huge pillar of fire was forming in a distance and a seven suns appeared on the horizon. Communications were then distorted and the HUD on my aircraft messed got messed up. As the light came, I heard a large explosion coming south of us. Alarms were going off in my jet. Fear and sadness then filled my heart as I came to this conclusion: My fatherland has just used nuclear weapons on our own soil. To the south west, I could see a light that was brighter then the sun. I closed my eyes just wanting to kill myself right then, but I knew that wouldn't accomplish anything. A pointless act.

"What... is...? Belka thinking?"Asked PJ.

"I don't know." said Cipher. "Those nuclear weapons... they couldn't... have de...tona...ted when we ... down the bom ...rs?"

"Nukes don't explode when they are shot at, they are designed for lock and impact." I said but to no avail, they couldn't hear most of what I said.

"Your fairy godmother is here, Larry." said a dark and cool voice. "Today is a special day, like your birthday."

"And I suppose you are going send me on the magical carriage? To hell, I suppose." replied Pixy. "Cipher, I have found a new reason to fight."

Pixy then started to chase after Cipher. Cipher, however, wouldn't fire back on his friend. No matter what Pixy fired at him.

"This is where we go our separate ways." Pixy said before disappearing from the radar.

"Galm 2 has disappeared from radar!" replied Eagle Eye, "Dammit Larry!"

Back at base, we watched the horrifying news reports. Seven nuclear bombs have been used on South Belkan cities. I death toll was steadying rising as I cried. My homeland, destroyed. I had family near the blast zone. I don't ever want to see this happen again.

Cipher wasn't taking it easy either. Pixy was his buddy. Günter sat beside me and cried with me too. Sad day. I and Günter then decided just to become mercenaries too.

But where to start off from?

I refuse to fight the Belkan War any longer because I don't need any more mental anguish. The next day, we left Valais, me and Günter asked for the transfer of the planes to some out of the way country called Sotoa which is located west of Yuktobania. We then got plane tickets to the small Verusean country. It was the beginning of a new life. (A/N: Yeah I know that it's unlike for anyone to send planes anywhere, but this is fan fiction, keep that in mind ;) )


	5. Chapter 5

Part 2: The Rise of the Phoenix

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 12: Birth of Scarface<strong>

* * *

><p>So here we were, on a private jet the Kalugan Government gracefully paid for us. The situation in the countries west of Yuktobania was looking grim. A terrorist organization recently made their prescence known in the region and the local military can't do anything about it. This is due to the Blood Wars that happened between Yuktobania (on one side) and Kaluga, and Romny on the other. Sotoa was being effected to by this terrorist uprising and the Kalugan Government is asking for our help to take this organization down. Any means necessary.<p>

There were three other pilots with us. John Harvard, an Erusean fighter pilot and Lara Nagase, an Osean pilot. They have both been hired by Kaluga and I was being introduced to them. Erich was a Belkan air force pilot like me, who also left the Belkan air force due to the nuclear attacks. He was blonde with light brown eyes. He flew a yellow Su-37. John has short dark hair; he wore a jean jacket and black pants. Lara had medium length hair and she had dark brown eyes. John never saw a Belkan before and asked me, "Why did Belka have to start that war?"

"I don't know. Blame it on the Rald Party." I said as I saw Lara sat beside me. When she did, I said in a quiet voice, "Hi."

She then responded with the same 'hi' and smiled at me, I did the same back at her. Lara was 26. We didn't know what kind of mess we were getting ourselves into. The base we were heading to was in the Spider Islands, located south west of Sotoa. From my readings, it was supposed to have a hot and humid climate. Something that I wasn't used to, being Belkan and all. I looked out the window of the small plane and saw the island chain of North Point, we were over halfway there.

"Good day to you, pilots of Belka, Osea, and Erusea. You were members of the greatest air forces of the world. Approximately six months ago, our peaceful union of nations has been attacked by an unknown group of joint terrorist and rebel organizations. Due to the recent blood war Yuktobania has waged against us, our combined militaries are no match for the might of these enemy forces. As a representative of the United Verusean Nations, I hereby grant you access to what military surplus we have left to combat these insurgents in order to bring peace back to our union. Each of you will be assigned Su-37s. Good luck and God Speed." said the Kalugan representative with a strong Kalugan accent.

"So who's the leader?" asked John, "I nominate the Belkan."

"Which Belkan, John?" Lara asked, "I think Wolfgang should." She walked towards me and looked me dead in the eyes. "I pray we can trust you."

"Yeah Wolfgang! You're the Phoenix of Belka!" said Erich as he patted my shoulder.

"Wolfgang, we trust you with our lives." said John,

"What should we call our unit?" asked Günter scratching his head.

Now is time to redeem Belka. I promised myself not to lose any of my new wingman. Five of us, we should be able to rip through anything that comes our way. This was true.

"Scarface, we will call the squadron Scarface. Lara, you will fly as Scarface 2; John, you will fly as Scarface 3; Erich, you will fly as Scarface 4; and Günter, you will fly as Scarface 5." I said confidently, "I will fly as Scarface One. Call sign: Phoenix. Lara: Edge, John: Slash, Erich: Aquila, and Günter: Fawks. Any problems?" I asked as they all saluted me. They nodded 'no' and we marched out of the briefing room.

Out on the runway, I met my AWACS officer. He was unlike any other AWACS officer I have ever seen in my life. This guy has long hair, mustache, and beard. He was wearing sunglasses and walked out of his Hawkeye.

"Yo dude. I've volunteered to be your officer. This small plane is good enough for me and the crew. My call sign will be 'Angel Wing." he said as staggered to the barracks.

"That is our officer?" asked Lara. "In the Osean Air force they at least dress decent."

"I suppose so, Lara." I responded. At least he was not a hard ass.

A/N: For a better idea of what the AWACS officer looks like, think of the helicopter pilot from Battlefield Bad Company 2.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 13: First Sortie<strong>

* * *

><p>The next day, me and my squad mates were getting briefed by a Sotoan base commander.<p>

"This is an evaluation of you squadron and operational abilities. You should have the margin of surprise. Your target is a set of C-5s and E-767s with fighter escort. Should be an easy mission for you five." said the base commander Lee as he turned a map and showed diagrams of planes over a map of what appeared to be wetlands.

"That's all?" I asked looking at the commander with an amused look on my face.

"Yes Scarface 1. Your AWACS will keep you updated for now." he said, "Dismissed."

Yeah, that ditz. I couldn't believe that I had a pothead for an AWACS officer. That's life I guess.

"Hey Wolfgang." Günter said as he walked towards me. "You need to check out the new emblem for the squadron."

"Why?" I asked.

"We are going to our planes anyway." Günter said as we made our way to the hanger. After he said that I felt stupid.

I then looked at the tail fin of the Su-37 and saw a phoenix emblem. It was shaped in a mirrored 'C' and had a gradient of red to purple. Now I had proof of being called the 'Phoenix of Belka'. Something in which my Great Grandfather was called during the Belkan Osean War of 1910. All five jets had the emblem.

"Scarface, launch." I said as our five planes drove onto the runway in order to lift off.

"Alright dudes and dudette!" said Angle Wing as he flew his E-3 eagle eye outside the mission area. "Two E767s directly ahead along with C-5 as with light fighter escorts."

"Alright Scarface 1, time for orders." said Harvard as he flew beside me.

"Hmmm. Not that many here. Feel free to engage any and all targets." I said as all of our planes flew up to a speed of 1542 mph.

"Five enemy planes entering area. I thought we crushed the Verusean Union Coalition army?" said an enemy AWACS through the mic.

"I thought we did to. This is Stiller breaking off to engage enemy planes." a Mig 31 pilot said.

We then flew at the small formation of planes. I smoked the two E-767s with ease, while Erich and Günter went after the fighter escort. Edge and Slash proceeded to take out the C-5As. Pretty easy mission if I do say so myself.

"Incoming from Eclipse Airbase!" stated Angle Wing. "Seems like one of our last airbases has been compromised. It's located south east of our current position. Our targets are the B-52 bomber force. Along with a C-5b parachute/armor transport brigade plane."

"Are we like the only force capable of engaging them?" asked John. "Doesn't the airbase itself have planes?"

"Nope, they are off trying to destroy the advancing force and some are trying to escort Government Officials to the neutral country of Valga. This is located south of Kaluga. Those officials were nearly caught and killed a couple of days ago bros!"

"Now the real fun begins." I said through the mic as we gathered into formation to engage these bogies.

(End Flashback)

"So Wolfgang. Seems like you have had quite the impression on your squad mates." said Brett. "Buy what really caught my attention was you AWACS officer."

"The first time I met him I called him a long haired pansy. To tell you the truth. I also told him to cut his hair because he looked like a pothead." I said laughing. Brett thought it was funny to and started to laugh.

"How about Lara? How was your relationship with her?" he asked.

"Can't tell you now." I said.

"Erich? Günter? John?" he asked reading down the list of my known squad mates. "I see that another female pilot has had a close relationship with Erich. Lorianna Cantor? Who's she?"

"She came during the Usean Continental Rebellion. Briefly. She learned from Erich, who later joined the Erusean Air force, Lorianna followed him. Not sure what happened to them during the Erusean-ISAF war. John Harvard also joined up with the Erusean air force too. That was like 2001 this happened."

"Alright Mr. Schmidt, continue your story." Brett said.

(A/N: I'm planning on writing biographies on each pilot that is mentioned in this story. May be uploaded within 2 weeks not sure when.)

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 14: Brief Pilot Bio and second mission<strong>

* * *

><p>AN: OLT Annette Zweig is used with permission. Credit goes to LaZardo for creating a unique and inspiring character/back-story for Günter and Annette.

"Alright." I said through the mic as me and my squad mates flew in formation towards the south east. "I think I see our allied airbase. Scarface 1 to Sotoan airbase, reply?"

"... [Static]..."

"Sotoan Base! Do you copy?" I replied urgently. Why is this happening?

"Scarface 1!" yelled Günter through the mic, "The base's coms link is down!"

"It appears that they are relying on radar to confirm our IFF." said Lara, "Wolfgang, we need to be careful."

"Hmm, Wolfgang we got a message coming in from our GHQ. Patching it through." said Anglewing.

[Message from HQ: STFS Scarface, the base in which you were assigned has been compromised since the last enemy push. Expect bomber wing of B-52 bombers with TNDF attacker support. Moderate-low fighter support. Scarface, your orders are to shoo down the bombers pronto. If you want your pay.

P.S: Our communication officers at your base airspace are trying their best to fix the comms array.]

"That's just weird." I said through the mic,

(Present Day)

"So what happened next?" asked Genette as he glanced over his paperwork which had he had information on some of the pilots in Scarface:

Name: Lara Nagase  
>DOB: September 2, 1973<br>Birthplace: Trinity City, Osea

(Not much I can say for now.)

(Where to find a woman that I believe doesn't exist?)

Name: Günter Heimoroth  
>DOB: December 16, 1977<br>Birthplace: Truinich, South Belka

Little is known about Günter Heimoroth other than the fact that he helped a OLT Annette Zweig steal a slide show containing proof of Belkan Rald plans to nuke the South Lands. He then later flew with Annette Zweig in order to try to shoot down the Belkan bombers in charge of dropping the nukes on South Belkan cities/towns. Even though they succeeded, smaller craft managed to break through and drop their loads. It has been confirmed that Günter managed to join up with Schmidt in order to bring down the bombers. It is then later thought that he and Schmidt formed STFS Scarface in order to stop rebellions around the world.  
>(Note to self: Where to find Günter in world?)<p>

Name: Wolfgang Schmidt  
>DOB: 6 June, 1968<br>Birthplace: Sudentor, Belka (North Osea)

Wolfgang Schmidt, born to Wolfgang Schmidt Senior, was a member of the Belkan Air force during the Belkan War. Even though he claims to have fought in only a few battles, I have reason to believe that he has possibly fought in many more battles than what he had said. During my interview with him, he claims his favorite airplane was the SU-37 Flanker. I have yet to finish my investigation on him and his missions but I will try to. There's still a bit of a mystery to who he is. And why he created STFS Scarface. I also checked the Belkan Census Bureau; a being by the name of Wolfgang Schmidt Sr. is nonexistent. If that's the case, then who is Wolfgang's father? I may or may not find out but a continued interview with him is a must in order to find out more about an interesting man, and an interesting squadron to say the least.  
>(Note to self: Even harder to find then Günter?)<p>

Tanya Schmidt  
>DOB: 24 May, 1996<br>Birthplace: Port St. Ark  
>The daughter of Wolfgang. She is exactly like her father. Only met her twice. Attends local elementary school.<p>

Lorianna Cantor  
>DOB September 15, 1980<br>Farbanti, Erusea

Not much is known about her. She did, however, flew alongside Yellow 13 before and during the Usean Continental war. Believed to be dead. After talks with Wolfgang, her death has been confirmed due to being shot down during Op. Stonehammer. After her being shot down, 13 was emotionally hurt but still vowed to never give up to engage Mobius One and to avenge his 'Girl.'

The date on the top left corner was 2005 the month and date was erased to show only the year for a reason that Thompson forgot.

"We engaged them; the bombers were just flying in a straight line. The pests tried to fly circles around us and we managed to pick them off with ease. The fast Su-37 was more than a match for those puny planes." I replied scratching my head.

"Ah, but what of the jamming you encountered?" Thompson asked,

"A Sotoan commando unit found the device and blew it up. Angelwing also helped 'sort' things out." I replied I showed him a copy of the map of the mission area."Oddly enough is located in the center of our airfield.

(Flashback)

"Alright Scarface, break…. NOW!" I said through the mic. We were headed north east towards the bombers. I was leading the squadron. I kept my speed up around 800 mph and armed my secondary missiles.

"Why are they flying so low?" Gunther asked.

"I dunno. Maybe they don't expect us." David said as he broke off and flew to a higher altitude. I kept my altitude and so did Lara.

"Skies appear to be clear, commence Operation Shambala." A enemy bomber pilot said through the mic. "What's this? Enemies? Fighters take care of them."

"There's a lot of radar interference. I think that C-5 has a jammer onboard." Angelwing said as he tried to do his magic. "Wolfgang, you need to destroy 'em."

"The Jamming appears to be doing some good. They appear to be confused." Said the enemy transport pilot, "Escorts, take them out."

I flew in a straight line towards them and the TNDFs shot missiles at me. I was never going to try to do that again. "Wolfgang! Are you ok?" Lara said, she was worried about me.

"Yes." I said as I turned my plane around to pursue him.

"His on my tail!"

C'mon get a target lock… got it! I then shot a missile at him and he lost his wing, just like I did to Pixy. This time, he ejected and the plane spiraled into the ground. "Splash one bandit!"

Another one decided to get on my tale. I then used the airbrake to slow up and he flew right past me. He tried to got out of my line of sight and before he did, I launched a QAAM.

"TNDFs are out of the sky!" Anglewing said.

"This is Lorianna, the C-5 is out of the sky." Lorianna said as she circled the falling C-5a.

"The AV-8s are coming. Do what's necessary to take them down." The bomber leader said as the B-52s got in a straight line. "We are only 20 miles away from the target.

"Lorianna and David go after those AVs. We will handle the '52s."

Targetting these big bastards was pretty fun. They shot back and grazed our planes and they got a couple of missiles shoved up their ass.

"Mission Complete." Anglewing said, "Good work."

"This is the airbase commander. Good work up there. However, your work is only beginning. Good to have you aboard, Scarface."

"Thanks." I replied.

"Thanks!" happily exclaimed Gunther.

"That was good flying Lorianna. I know who I'm going to watch over." said David as he flew close to Lorianna Cantor.

"I will never let anything happen to you." she said as they flew together.

"Hey Slash, you didn't talk much." I said.

"It's nothing. We're just misfits. People from different countries." He said, "However. I'm glad to have met you all."

(Present)

"Interesting to say the least. It seems like your squadron got along." Said Gennette as he continued to write.

"Yes we did."

"Next part of the story? We will do tomorrow." Gennete said as he packed his stuff.

"Yes."

"Bye."

"Bye."


	6. Chapter 6

I looked blankly out the door as he went back to his vehicle (a small four door car.) I smilled but for some reason a tear ran down my cheek. I then reached into my packet to bring out a pendent that was shaped like a trident and had a eye skewered between the points. This symbol is what I pulled off the Erusean Prime Minister before I killed him during the Battle of Farbanti. Something of a memento if I do say so myself. Why I killed him? He was a man that started a war that engulfed a entire contenent. Just like Henri Rald, the Fuhrer of Belka during the Belkan War. It happend long ago, but I remember what happened that day before the war began...

April 12, 1995  
>Dinsmark AFB, Belka<br>200th Tactical Air Division

"HEIL!" One word that started each and every single greeting. Heil... I turned to my commanding officer, his face grimmaced at the sight of me.

"Heil." I replied, returning the salute.

"What is your name, _Fledgeling Belk_? " he asked, raising a eyebrow.

"Wolfgang Schmidt, Sir." I replied.

"Ah, Scmidt, The Fuehrer himself wants a word with you."

He lead me through the base outside of Dinsmark, the capital city of Belka. Morning was a pleasant time of day, unbeknowest to me, it would be the last pleasant morning for a while at the time. "How does he know me?"

"He only knows your ancestory thats all. Very intersesting indeed." the officer said as he read through my files. I caught a glimpse of the file:

Name: Wolfgang Schmidt(?)

Nationality: Belkan (Osean, Yuktobanian, Ustian mix)

A question mark after my last name? But thats always been my last name. I'm sure of it. I can only guess what other infomation they had on me. We then got out of the convertable and walked into the Reichstag. Two Rald SS guards showed us into the Fuhrer's Office. "Mein Fuhrer, Kaptain Schmidt of the Luftwaffe"

"Good, leave us." Henri Rald said as he watched the officer leave.

"Good, some privacy." Rald then sat down at his desk. His office had a map of Belka and the surrounding countries on the wall with a picture of King Dinsmark (The king who unified Belka in the 1800s). Outside the window was a monument of Dinsmark mounted on top of a calvary horse, a monument that was built after the First Belkan-Osean War (during the 1910s).

"Mein Fuhrer, why do you call me here?" I said as I glanced at a picture of him and a unknown man shaking hands.

"As a matter of Peace..." he said as he pour some Jagermeister in two glasses and gave me one. "And War... It is a matter of time before a war starts between us and Ustio."

"The resources in 'B7R' is the final key to peace and prosperity for Belka." Rald said as he pulled out a map of the Belkan-Ustian border. "We can use B7R as the invasion corridor."

"I understand." Why is he telling me this?

"You and a couple of handful of chosen pilots will be performing a raid on Wesson, Osea." Rald said as he then pulled out the map of Wesson and dropped in on top of the border map. "The Wesson Laser installation."

Is he serious? A strike on the most heavily defended postion in the entire Osean Federation? He continued to speak, "This is a order, not a favor. You will be transferred to Heirlark Airforce Base in order to meet up with your comrades. Then you will start the raid at precisely 12:00 BELKTIME. When the AWACS reports to me that the laser is destroyed, we will begin the blitzkrieg. Our land will be ours once more!"

"Yes Mein Fuhrer." I said as glanced at a picture of a man shaking hands with Rald on a bookcase. Unknown to me at the time it was of the Erusean Prime Minister Marcus Daniel.

The next day...

11:30 Heirlark AFB

"Here is the point of fire of the laser. A full 360 degree angle, similar to Excalibur." the Base commander said as he used a laser pointer to point at various parts of a map. The Phoenix will fly in and destroy the laser installation and hopefully the OADF will show up and allow us to shoot them down and we can finally have vengence for what they [the Oseans] did to us for the longest time."

I was The Phoenix, The One. In the room was: The Gelb Team, Wolfgang Buchner (who was Grabarc 1 at the time), Ashley Bernitz (Grabarc 2), and the rest of the Grabarc squadron, and finally Griswing squadron (members of a renowned B-2 Bomber squadron).

After the shortest breifing over, Buchner hunted me down and asked to speak with me. "Schmidt, a provoked attack against Osea is not wise."

"I know, but we have no choice, I have no choice. If I don't do this, my honor will be stripped."

"No! Either way your honor will be stripped. Rald is sneaky. He has plans that even I, a LT. Col. of the BAF don't know of."

"Pops I will be fine."

"Don't call me that. It makes me feel old."

"You are like a father to me. I have a right so to speak.."

"Your pride will be the death of you Schmidt." said a voice from the shadows. It was Bernitz. "And good luck. May the Belkfrauleins wait for you when you land."

"ALL PILOTS! TO YOUR ASSIGNED AIRCRAFT!" said a voice over the intercom.

"Let's get going." Buchner said as we head out to the hanger.


	7. Chapter 7

**11:30 Heirlark AFB**

"Here is the point of fire of the laser. A full 360 degree angle, similar to Excalibur." the Base commander said as he used a laser pointer to point at various parts of a map. The Phoenix will fly in and destroy the laser installation and hopefully the OADF will show up and allow us to shoot them down and we can finally have vengence for what they [the Oseans] did to us for the longest time."

I was The Phoenix, The One, hand chosen by the Fuhrer himself, The Golden Child so to speak. In the room was: The Gelb Team, Wolfgang Buchner (who was Grabarc 1 at the time), Ashley Bernitz (Grabarc 2), and the rest of the Grabarc squadron, and finally Griswing squadron (members of a renowned B-2 Bomber squadron).

After the shortest breifing over, Buchner hunted me down and asked to speak with me. "Schmidt, a provoked attack against Osea is not wise."

"I know, but we have no choice, I have no choice. If I don't do this, my honor will be stripped."

"No! Either way your honor will be stripped. Rald is sneaky. He has plans that even I, a LT. Col. of the BAF don't know of."

"Pops I will be fine."

"Don't call me that. It makes me feel old."

"You are like a father to me. I have a right so to speak.."

"Your pride will be the death of you Schmidt." said a voice from the shadows. It was Bernitz. "And good luck. May the Belkfrauleins wait for you when you land."

"ALL PILOTS! TO YOUR ASSIGNED AIRCRAFT!" said a voice over the intercom.

"Let's get going." Buchner said as we head out to the hanger.

_THis is going to be fun._ I thought as I looked through the map of the city Wesson. 4 Cannons: North, South, East, and West. Along with a munitions plant in the center of the city. _What? This is crazy, if I attack that, the entire city will burn. _

_"_All aircraft: Launch." Buchner said as one plane after plane started to fly off base. I was in the rear.

"This is AWACS Thor, to all aircraft. "Der Fuehrer has a message for us, patching it through: 'Today is the day we return our land to its rightful owner: US! For years we have been _humiliated, cursed, our mighty armies destroyed, and homes burned. _Now is the time, for vengence, now is time for Belka to return to the world as a major international power. Those damn Oseans are the cause of our pain, and our suffering. BUT WE WILL COME BACK STRONGER! WE WILL COME BACK AS THE SUCCESSOR TO THE OSEAN FEDERATION!'" This was the announcement to our military and our people the day the war began. "Ein Reich! Ein Belk! EIN FUHRER!"

"EIN REICH, EIN BELK, EIN FUHRER!"

The combined voices of the nation's people saying the nation's motto compelled us with resolve, revenge, and power. At the time, I felt I was doing my duty for my nation. Boy was I in for a surprise.

"Osean border, at vector 280, 30 miles." Thor spoke with a growl, "Vogel [Me], break off and continue to Wesson, Fuhrer's orders. Rest of you: get ready near the border."

**Operation: Verrat**  
><strong>April 13, 1995<strong>  
><strong>11:55 AM<strong>  
><strong>Wesson, Osea<strong>

I was officialy Black Ops now. No radio whatsoever. Just me, my jet, and my missles. I could hear the Osean broadcasts from the local radio station.

"Beautiful day so far, isn't it Robin?" said a male voice.

"Yes it is, Sam." the female replied.

Yeah its going to be a beautiful day. I then pushed a button on the joystick and flew straight towards the tower-like laser cannon. A message confirming a target lock appeared and fired one of my loaded RBS-15s at it. I tracked the missle and it hit the tower, right underneath the laser emitter. I flew at a speed of 750 knots and looked over to see the tower collapsing. I then looked at the time: 11:56.

"What was that? Sounded like a explosion! The Tower! The Wesson Cannon is under attack!" Sam said, "Call the airforce! Tell the President we are under attack!"

I then steered towards the second tower. Launched the second of the RBS, and it hit the tower's base and it collapesd shortly after.

11:58

"Wolfgang, enemy planes will be at your position in 5 minutes!" Thor yelled in the mic.

"I see them." I said as I took out the next tower. I then looked at my long range radar. The Oseans were coming in fast.

"Who can be behind this attack on Wesson?"

"Can't be Wellow. Belka? Anyone?" Robin sadly sad.

11:59

Another target lock. The missle trailed and smacked right into the emiter.

"Wesson Cannon destruction confirmed. Proceed the attack." Rald commanded the airforce to make its move against Ustio and Osea. "Reclaim our land and our future."

"Wolfgang! What the hell are you doing?" Thor yelled.

What? I looked around and saw a plane with the exact same markings as mine, attacking the Belkan population."I am not attacking! Can't you see the rogue?"

"Return to base, you and Hucklebein. The others have this down. Bernitz, you have been given the Title of Grabarc 1. Congratulations."

"Thanks Thor."

**Belkan Office of the Fuhrer**

Me and Pops stood up as Rald himself stood in front of us. "Wolfgang you have done your nation a great feat, destroying the cannon and all, but due to the proof and circumstances of your crimes against the Belkan Population of Wesson. I hereby strip you of your honor and instead of putting you in prison and to death. You will walk with this scar for the rest of your life. You and your mentor, Lt. Col. Buchner are hereby assigned to the 799th Tactical Reserves where you will be serving with till the end of twenty years."

"I havn't attacked the Belkan Population there was a fi..."

"There is substantial proof that you did this. You are free to go to the nearest town, but thats all. NO SORTIES unless its deemed fit by the base commander. If its Excalibur you can defend it. Even if the base commander denies it. A small fighter intrusion in B7R, you can go. But nothing more."

**Present Day**

Thats the event that caused me to go this path I have chosen. My background and my so called 'criminal offense.' Our airforce had a major victory that day. I heralded it and I was not seen as a hero, but as a criminal.


	8. Chapter 8

Part 3: Sotoa

_Every day I reflect on the events that started the Belkan War. To what end would we fight? Till now to the end of time? Nothing can break the Belkan Will, except ourselves. However, the Demon Lord broke it for us. I could care less if he is considered a battlefield legend, I could care less if he was a demon, as he was human, and from the memories of him, he thought, ate, breathed, and looked like a human. He was the allies' psychological super weapon. Just like Mobius 1 of the ISAF air force. They would put advanced training on one individual in order to perform miraculous deeds. Through the intense training of these 'aces' can they reach their goal. _

_ – Wolfgang Schmidt C. 2007_

Three o'clock, time for the kids to be left off the bus. I got up, brushed back my hair with my hands and went outside. A 100 feet walk to the end of the driveway and I saw my daughters bus drive up the road. Tanya, my daughter is coming home after school. She has brown hair, blue eyes, and she was wearing jeans today with a polka dotted blouse. She is eleven years old.

"Hey dad," she said as she got off the bus, running towards me for an embrace. God, she reminded me of her mom.

"Tanya, how are you today?" I replied lovingly, getting on one knee and embracing her.

"My day was fine, actually. I got a B+ on a science test." She said as we both began to walk back towards the house. "The teacher asked me about you."

She took a quick jolt and claimed up a small tree stump. And turned around to look at me. I walked up to her, "What she ask?"

"She was just wondering who you were that's all. I do too, what happened to you during to Belkan War?"

How am I to tell her about my experience? She is too young to know that I left my nation. Too young to know my defection. I closed my eyes and to what felt like an eternity to me, I responded in Belkan:"Für jetzt junge. Sie brauchen nicht zu wissen." [For now young one, you don't need to know.]

"Huh? What does that mean dad?" her innocent blue eyes wandered into mine,

"One day you will know, but for now, it's my secret." I said as we both started to move back inside the two floor house. I watched her as she pulled out a textbook and a binder and went to the dining room table and sat down, move a small stack of papers and vigilantly started doing her homework. A knock sounded on the door, and I saw a familiar face staring at me.

It was Günter, who now acts as a son and bodyguard. He had a scar on his left eye that resulted from a firefight during the Wielvakian Civil War. I don't really know how he received it, but one second he had it and next thing you know, he has a scar. His older brother, Michael, was a Rald Party member, and was the leader of the SS squadron Ofnir.

"Uncle Günter!" Tanya yelled when she saw Günter.

"Tanya, here's a present, if she may Wolfgang?" Günter asked as he pulled out a bar of chocolate.

"Yes she may." I smiled as Tanya hugged Günter, took the candy, and went back to doing her homework.

"So how's everything?" Günter said as he took off his jean jacket and hung it on a chair.

"Fine, there has been this reporter from the OBC that's been interviewing me for the past couple of days. It's about the Scarface." I replied, he is my oldest friend.

"And?"

"And, I know that he's going to continue asking me questions."

"That's what they do. Ask questions. Why you need help?" Günter said with a sigh.

"Should I tell him all the engagements?" I replied, it might've been a rhetorical question.

"You should, you have been a bit depressed lately, this may be your chance to get some pressure off your chest, and all of this is not good for you."

"Yeah, I will. Thanks Günter." I replied with a small smile, he might just be right.


	9. Chapter 9

AN: The reason why Tanya doesn't know Belkan is that Wolfgang simply doesn't want her to know Belkan until the time is right.

The next morning, the reporter came back. He would want to focus back on the Sotoa Campaign. My daughter wasn't home and Günter sat down beside me as it came clear that he wanted to be a part of the interview.

"I'm back, after a day of archives lookup, surfing the web, and rereading my notes, it seems that there's more to be told, Mr. Schmidt." The brown haired reporter eyed Günter. "So, you must be Günter Heimoroth."

"Yes, I am." Günter replied as he shook Thompson's hand.

"Where were you born?" the reporter said as he looked back into his bio sheet that he made of us, in order to confirm he was telling the right information.

"Truinich, it was the Rald Party's spiritual capital. That's where I grew up with my mother and older brother, Michael. Michael went on to becoming the flight lead of the Ofnir team while I worked on fighters. As an information gatherer, I often worked with electronic jamming during the initial battle that started the war."

"That's interesting; I never knew you did that sort of work Günter." I replied, honestly this was the first time I heard him talk about that, all the other times he hid it.

"How interesting, a flight leader that didn't know his squad mates skills?" Thompson asked, Honestly, I didn't know.

"No. It is sad that I didn't know much."

"Well, I had to go through a lot of training, Michael made me do it, he was the biggest jerk ever and always through it in my face because he was practically the head of the air force and because he was a member of the SS."

"So Wolfgang continue where we left off."

**SOTOA 1995**

"Good to see you all again. Thanks to your actions, the airbase survived and an eight of the enemy's bomber squadrons have been taken out." The base commander was wearing a new pair of glasses. And by the looks of it, the Sotoan Kalugan Romnian and Valgan Coalition gave him a promotion. No wonder why he seems to be in high spirits.

"However, an unknown group has appeared in Grid 23, in the Toka mountain range. 100 miles northeast of this base. Good luck."

David stopped me as we walked out. "Unknowns? Do you think they have Belkan utilities? Like the Jamming Devices we used during Futoro?"

"No, our AWACS probably did a half assed scan. You know, Angelwing sometimes he is higher than a cloud when he does his duties."

"Yeah, being a merc doesn't really mean he has to follow rules and regs." David replied as we started to walk towards the hangers.

"But in order for us to have honor, we do." I replied as I put my arm around his neck, "And honor is the one thing us Belkans live for, isn't it?"

"Hahah, yes! For the Belkan Federation!" David said as we continued into the hanger.

"Why are you guys so happy for?" Lara asked,

"Haha, nothing much Lara." I replied, "Just connecting with my squad mates. It was a core belief when during training."

"Oh, I see." She looked at me dead in the eyes, "Are you going to connect with me also?"

"Yeah, I will." I said, checking her out. Her brown eyes, looking me over and turned around and claimed the ladder to her jet, I saw her give a thumbs up.

"Hey Scarface 1!" Lara said as the tractor hooked up to her, "Looking forward to it!"

**TOKA MOUNTAINS**

The Toka Mountains split the Sotoa right down the middle. Toka was a name of a Sotoan Prince that ruled Sotoa during the early 1400s and was known for having his citadel deep in the heart of the Mountain range.

"Alright, I've detected eight enemy signatures on radar. Two E-767s alongside fighter escorts." Angelwing informed,

"Finally off the bong? That's the most accurate readout you gave us since we started." David said as he sped up his plane ahead. Lorianna followed suit.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he replied,

"You know what I mean. Don't play stupid with a Belkan." David replied with disdain.

"Now you listen here! It ain't my fault that this Hawkeye's radar equipment aint Belkan state of the art! We got to make do with what we got!" Angelwing said,

"Not taking sides, you do both make great points. Quit arguing." Lara told them both and to my surprise, they didn't retaliate towards her.

They continued to bicker back and forth for another five minutes. Our first attacks were against the E767s, the F/A 18s and lastly the TNDRs. "Easy money." John said as we flew back into formation. A TNDR rolled to the left and tried to spin away from me as we started to play fat and mouse.

"Fox 2….." I watched as the sidewinder curved to reach its target. "Target down. All planes back to base."

**Present Day**

"John had to have been the most speechless person I have ever met in my life. He never talked, never initiated talking, and he spoke whenever he was spoken to. The last time I ever saw John was after the Usean Rebellion, afterwards he just disappeared." Günter said,

"We never saw him since." I replied, Brett's eyes showed wonder and amazement.

"I would've figured that you all as a squadron would have stuck together, what happened?"

"One night he went to his apartment up the street from here, the next morning, he was gone. The local police station tried their best to find him; they ran DNA, fingerprints, signs of struggle. They turned up nothing. "

"Do you think he just wandered off?"

"That's not his style. He would've told us where he would've gone." I replied.

"How interesting."

The disappearance of John was a complete mystery. Disappercences were quite common in Osea, Yuktobania, Usea, and Verusea. About fifty people per year were reported missing. They tend to be government officials, military heroes, and hackers.

A/N: So yeah, I'm glad I've broke my writers block. Please review, I have anonymous reviews on. But no flames.


	10. Chapter 10

"John was a very quiet man. He spoke what he thought; it was easy to forget he was around. He was fighting for his homeland. He joined up with us during the Usean Rebellion two years after The Sotoan-Kalugan-Valgan-Romney Joint Civil War." I explained as Brett kept writing more notes down.

"What's with all of the disappearances? Care to shed any light?"

"I would answer, but I do not know. The disappearances became more frequent after the Belkan War. Rumors of a small Osean Special Forces division that operated in the Yuktobanian area of operations became known and forgotten as the years gone by. Most of the aces have gone missing as well. That night John went missing, I heard a lot of footsteps and the engine of a tiny helicopter move in and out of the area. I should've checked it out, but I didn't want to leave my Tanya behind."

Günter, who sat stoically beside me spoke up, "That helicopter was of Yuktobanian origin. Don't put that on record, Mr. Thompson."

"I won't." Brett said as he erased the mention of the helicopter. "So I'm interested in knowing more about your Sotoan operations."

**Back At Base June 1995**

"Alright Scarface, your next mission will be a hard one." The base commander began the usual briefing; he seemed to have lightened up a bit. The screen had a map of a city on it. "Out advance has been limited by the presence of civilians in Darnet City. There is an enemy HQ in the center of the city along with the enemy's central communications center. You will be heading in during nightfall. Good Luck."

"I'm not going in this time." I said, remembering the event in Wesson, Osea. The last time I attacked an enemy in a city, I got screwed and this time it isn't happening.

"Why?" Lara said, "Guys leave us alone till the start of the mission." She then grabbed my hand and led me to her living area. She seemed lucky, not having to share with her quarters with anyone else.

"Why do you bring me here?" I said, looking deep inter her mud-brown eyes that glistened when the sun shined when the rays gently touches her face.

"You're sad, I can tell. I know, you want to know how I know. I took psychology in college connection before I left Osea. I couldn't tell before, but you are sad deep down inside. And you're from Belka, that event must have really gotten to you..." she said as she held both of my hands, "Tell me, what's wrong?"

Someone wanted to know what was wrong with me? The last person that wanted to know what was wrong was Pops. What can I tell her? Would she spread a rumor? Why am I thinking this? I have a decent relationship with my squadron. It felt like forever before I answered, "Have you ever been betrayed?"

"No not really. "She responded in a soft voice, I hope she stays and listen, been awhile since I've opened up.

"The bombing of Wesson. You remember that, don't you?"

"Yeah, that was really nasty of Belka. The lead plane took out the Wesson Cannon installation in under five minutes. We were surprised that a pilot could be that good…"

"I knew that pilot…" I responded ready to make my revelation.

"You do?" she said surprised.

"Of course, he's me."

The calmness of her face slowly faded and she started to turn pale.

"I was following orders. The Fuhrer of Belka personally assigned me that mission, I had doubts and didn't want to fire the first bullets and fire the first missiles of that war, but who knew what The SS would've done to the people I cared about. After my success, I was framed for having launched attacks on the Belkan Population which I didn't. The Fuhrer then tore my honor away from me just like a dog rips open trash."

She just stood there holding my hands. Lara was emotionless. Staring, I felt a warm in my eyes; somehow she wanted me to continue.

"Afterwards I flew sorties whenever I could. Was even offered a position in the SS squadron Grabarc, but I declined. Rather die then fly with the SS, even if it was a so-called offer for me to regain my honor. My mentor then flew into the round table in order to defect but got shot down and killed! That very day I defected to the allies and shot down Bernitz, the leader of the Grabarc squadron. Then eight days ago, I witnessed with my own eyes, the nuclear destruction of seven Belkan cities. A good part of my family was lost that day. I don't want to start the cycle again I will not fly into Darnet." That felt good letting that out.

"Wolfgang, I never thought," she then pulled herself close beside me and gave me a hug and I could tell she was emotionally shocked, as there was a small tear rolling down her face. "That's the past and even though it happened, you have to look forward to a bright future."

"You are right, Lara. I cannot let the past get to me. It's hard to live past what happened the last three months of my life. "But I may be the last Schmidt, from my bloodline at least. I don't have any brothers or sisters."

"What about any uncles or aunts?" She said as looked at the cross that was hanging from my neck. It was the Belkan Hero Cross that my Grandfather was awarded for bravery during The Great War.

"I had an aunt; she lived in Tauberg, where we had built the Sword of Belka: Excalibur. I lived with her because my mom died giving birth to me and my father vanished right after I was born, so basically I am an orphan. But my aunt knew my mother very well and told me she was a kind lady."

"Do you miss your aunt and uncle?" she asked with a smile, I was about to ask her questions of her family.

"Yes, very much. How about you Lara?"

"Well, my mom and dad grew up in Oured, Osea. We were a middle-class family, and my relatives stayed close. I don't have any brothers or sisters ether, but I have a younger cousin, her name is Kei. The entire family moved to Trinity City, which is located north of the Eaglin Straits. My mom would make the best macaroni salad that would knock your socks off!" she laughed, "What about your aunt?"

"My Aunt would make Britonian Wedding Soap, it is almost like chicken soup, but has a lot of rice added to it. Or giant meatballs, they were good." Who knew talking about food could distract one's mind so easily?

"Kei looks up to me, that's a good thing. She's like my little sister. Maybe after this you can come to Osea and meet her."

"Yeah. That would be nice."

A/N: Britonia is the land that looks like Europe, west of Yuketobania on the ace combat5 world map.


	11. Chapter 11

It was a nice visit if I do say so myself. It felt better to have all of that off my chest. I stopped and looked out the window into the vast blue ocean facing north east. If I remember correctly, Darnet City was in that direction.

"Captain Schmidt?" A voice called my name, it sounded like the base commander's. "You know what time the sortie is right?"

"In a hour, correct?" I replied, hoping that I was right.

"You're right to a certain extent." He said as he walked to my left side and stared out the window. "We have decided the time not during nightfall but during O-hundred hours."

"At midnight?" I replied, "It's going to be real dark if they cut the power off."

"The city is an economic center for this part of the continent. The lights will be on. Plus they won't expect you. Though the rebel air force has a tight hold over the area. As I said before good luck."

**2335 Hours **

Our aircraft flew in formation towards Darnet City. There was the city lights as the commander said there would be. "Anglewing, what does the radar say about enemies in the area?"

"Only five jets, 4 AA installations, and the three skyscrapers, naturally."

"This better be accurate, otherwise I will put a bullet in your skull when we get back to base." David calmly said through the mic.

"David." Günter calmly asked, "Why do you act like this?"

"It's a perk of me." David replied, "I have always been like this."

"David, I do hope you remember what we were taught. If you fly with a lot of emotions stuck in your head, then you will surely get shot down. You must remain stoic." I reasoned, I have seen this belief in action before, such as in my duel against Bernitz.

"Wolfgang has a point David; I do hope you know I have your back." Lorianna assured, "The enemy used a lot of jamming so in the last mission he tried his best. All of the little variables you have to take account for."

"You are smart Lorianna. I would gladly take you under my wing."

That was a shock even for me. David never seemed like the kind to become an instructor. But I guess it's a path of life, he wants to be seen as being the best and flight teachers are usually shown as being the best. I would become a flight instructor, but I feel deep down inside that I have another destiny that has to be fulfilled. The last couple of sorties have shown that Lori and David are meant to fight and fly together. They make a great team. One day perhaps, David will learn to control his emotions.  
>To fly with a cool head. Emotional flying does have its advantages, at the right time of course. To fly with knowledge; one can do many things. Risks can be taken as well but with caution. Caution is the reason why two man teams work so well. They can serve as the voice of reason to the other pilot and the other way around.<p>

"Darnet City is on the nose." Angelwing said as he started the scan of the right story of the two skyscrapers in front of us. "Destroy the antennas! For both of them!"

"I am going to engage the fighters. Lorianna, come with me!" David said as he broke formation to go deal with the two fighters.

"Alright I got him. Fox 2!" The sidewinder missile flew in a curve to hit the Mig-31. She then proceeded to fire her cannon at the supporting TNDF-01.

"Dropping a bomb right on top of the Comms device they set up on the taller skyscraper!" I said as I dropped two medium sized bombs right on top of the skyscraper.

"Bingo! You dropped the bomb on the head! Hahaha!" Angelwing said as he continued to monitor some of the radio frequency.

"This is Günter, ready to destroy the AA gun that's causing me some trouble." He flew around in a circle around the AA cannon that was defending the Darnet City International Airport. "I got 'em." He then launched a mk. 34 bomb right on top of the unit. "He's toast."

"Are there any reinforcements?" I demanded.

"Nope, it's weird. No one's coming." Angelwing said as we continued the assault.

"This is Günter, attacking the second Comms building." He said as he flew around to take out the antennae.

"We will take out the third." Lorianna and David said as they flew north to the third building. "Fox two."

"That was easy."Günter said proudly through the mic. "There were hardly any bad guys."

"To the Belkans in Scarface." Angelwing sounded serious, since when was he serious? "I have a broadcast that I am picking up from Cinigrad. Patching it in."

_"Today we are coming from you live from a signing ceremony here in Lumen. The plaza is surrounded by a group of allied tanks and the atmosphere is stern. (Static...) Today will be a day of hope, a day in which the tension between countries will be greatly reduced. (Static….) Henri Rald, the Chancellor and President of the Belkan Reich, has been reported by Belkan officials to have committed suicide this morning. So General Guderian will be signing the document that will end the war that has claimed so many lives. A worldwide ban on nuclear weapons will be put into effect and the treaty that will cover these bans will be covered further in a later broadcast."_

_It's over but, it can't be over. It's only the beginning. That's right there's something at work there. It has to be. _

"Hey the Belkan War is over!" Lara said, "You happy Wolfgang?"

"I am indifferent. They said that the officials claim Rald is dead? They didn't say who gave the report he was dead. The war is indeed over, but what of all the SS soldiers? Rald probably gave the order to the SS to fake his death, so he can plan the next moves to his plans."

"Why are you being that way, Wolfgang?" Günter said, "I am glad the war is over. No more people of our blood to die."

"It's a plot." I said discouraged, it just has to be. "That's how the SS worked in Belka, now they are going to operate in the shadows. Just like they always have."

**Sotoan Island Airbase 0112**

Lara sat on her bunk will I sat on a chair talking in private. The other pilots went to bed after a short debriefing from the CO. She was puzzled at what I told them.

The SS was responsible for a lot of covert operations inside Belka that involved monitoring the population and crushed anyone that spoke out against the nationalist government. They created a lot of state sponsored propaganda that was anti-Osean, anti-Yuke, and anti-Ustian. Which is what governments usually do in a time of war, but ours was a lot stronger. Every base had its share of SS troopers that made sure every operation was carried out in perfection. Ashley Bernitz and Michael Heimoroth were highly ranked members of the SS and so was the armaments minister of the South Belkan Munitions Plant. Pride is what every Belkan is born with; it's in our blood. Good and evil can vary depending on one's perspective. That's one thing I found out in the Belkan War.

"So why you say that there's a possibility that Rald is alive?" Lara questioned, "They say his dead. There are even pictures of his lifeless body…" She motioned me to a computer that showed information on the evil leader's suicide.

"They are edited. The SS has a knack for deception." I said after analyzing the pictures. "I met him in real life. You see, that is a full grown moustache. The Rald I met had a clean shave. And his hair was not blonde, it was brown. They used a dummy."

"Oh." She said after she looked close at the picture. "Look there's him." She pointed at another dead body that was lying next to a map table.

"He may just be dead. Never can be sure though." I replied as I closed the internet browser. "Good night, Lara."

"Good night, Wolfgang," she said as she crawled inside her bed and went to sleep. Out of respect I closed the door quietly. Then went to my room and got inside my bed.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: This chapter will be presented in different people's POV. Names in [ ] denote this change, for character development.

[Lara]

I slowly opened my eyes to look at the clock sitting on my nightstand. 9'oclock a bit too late for my tastes. There was supposedly a major operation that was supposed to take place today. I sluggishly got up and walked to the window. What a beautiful sight. Probably one of the nicest mornings ever on this island. I wonder how little Kei is doing? Or everyone else back home in Trinity?

My mind has been running laps ever since I arrived here. David and Angelwing's constant feuding is pretty funny. Lorianna and David's relationship is blossoming but they have more of a student-teacher relationship than anything.

Günter is easy going and follows Wolfgang around like a puppy dog. Two veterans of a very nasty battle. I never really asked Gunther about his duties in the Belkan War, perhaps I may just ask him in a bit during breakfast. I am so glad that war is over, but now the victors are going to debate about who gets the biggest piece of the Belkan pie.

Wolfgang is an interesting person if I do say so myself. I even find him to be attractive. I fell so sorry for him. Getting backstabbed when he became a hero of Belka. Now sentenced with dishonor from a crime he never committed.

After I got dressed in a white dress uniform, I made my way to the kitchen. Yuck, Sotoan base food. Total garbage, but it's better than nothing. Gunther sat by himself, enjoying what appeared to be scrambled eggs.

"Oh hi, Lara. How's it going?" the blonde man said as he stabbed a sausage link and ate it.

"Nothing really Gunther." I said as I buttered a piece of toast.

"Want some jam?" he asked, offering a plastic container of jam to me.

"No, I like my toast with nothing but butter." I replied as I dropped the toast and picked up a fork to start eating my eggs. "So how did you meet Wolfgang?"

He froze before he answered. "June 6, during the nuclear bombings of the seven cities. I defected when I learned he was with the Oseans. You see I am from _Sudentorbelk_ also known as South Belka and when we learned that Rald was planning on nuking the south lands, my squadron took off to engage the bombers with nukes. But before this, I and a pilot called Annette Zweig. She had the idea of defecting to the allies when we found out about the nukes. So we raided the base commander's office and got a bunch of information of which cities were being demilitarizing and which ones were being heavily guarded. We managed to escape, but got separated when the nukes went off. Wolfgang then took me in and I have been following his leadership ever since. He is my best friend."

"Wow, you have an interesting story, Gunther." I replied, "Do you have any brothers?"

"Yeah, one and his complete asshole. His name is Michael; he was a member of the SS in Belka. He treated us like lesser fools."

"Yeah, Wolfgang told me about him and Bernitz. He told me last night about them. Michael was the leader of Ofnir, while Ashley was leader of Grabarc."

"Yeah, I am a disgrace to my family for defecting."

"How can you say that?" I was shocked to hear that, Wolfgang and Gunther did have a terrible experience during that war.

"I supported my nation and turned my back on It." a small tear dripped from his right eye.

"But you did support your nation. When you defected and tried to shoot those bombers down, you were defending your homeland, South Belka. You defected out of love, not out of being a traitor. Gunther." I stopped before continuing to find the best way to put this. "You are a great person and it hurts to see you like this. You are a hero to South Belka and you are a hero to the local population."

He stopped crying and smiled, "Thank you Lara. Just like Anne, you're like a mother figure."

"How old are you anyway?" I questioned, he looked like a teen, with youth like qualities on his face like no wrinkles or facial hair.

"I am seventeen." He responded quietly.

He is nothing more than a child! Why would the Belkans send an innocent kid to war that is still attached to his parents? (Even though some kids aren't quite attached to their parents as they should be when they are this age.) But he seems so alone, what can I do to help him out? I know, he needs a family, I guess I can adopt him and provide the support he needs to become successful.

"Well Gunther. I just put some thought into it and I've decided."

"What Lara?" He was puzzled.

"I'll be your older sister."

[Gunther]

I looked back into her brown eyes and I could tell she was being serious. Ever since April, I have had this feeling of loneliness and when Anne came into my life everything was great, even though it only lasted a day. She guided me and told me what needed to be done for the good of Belka. My brother, Michael, never did that for me. He had everyone's support from Truinich and I was branded with 'Oh he's Michael's younger brother, he inherited all of his bad qualities that Michael didn't have.' It feels good knowing that Lara and Wolfgang, well hell everyone here in this base supports me. I never had great friends like them. Ever.

"Th… thhanks Lara." I barely managed to say as I got up, wiping the tears from my eyes and feeling her warm embrace. Through the embrace I heard her say, 'Gunther, Wolfgang and I will always be there for you, through thick and thin. Never ever forget that.'

"Thanks sis."

[Wolfgang]

A knock on the door woke me up from my deep sleep. It felt like an eternity before I opened my eyes and took a look at the alarm clock sitting on my nightstand. Eleven o'clock. Damn I slept late. I got up and put a white t-shirt on and made my way to the door and opened to find Lara standing there.

"Guten Morgan!" Lara said as she wrapped her arms around me,

"Guten Morgan to you too." I could feel a warm feeling in my cheeks. Blushing.

"I just adopted Gunther!"

Did I just hear what I thought I just heard? Gunther was a fully grown man, not a kid. She has to be pulling my leg. Then again, full military conscription was in place so their might've been a chance that he was drafted.

"Adopted? Gunther?" I said puzzled.

"Yeah, he is seventeen and I told him I would be his older sister." Lara said as she sat down on my cot.

I chuckled, it was a bit funny but I knew she was serious. She rubbed her hair through her brown hair. "What will your parents think?"

"I hope they see me doing the right thing. He needs a family now, sure he is 17 going on 18 but you know his story. He needs us." Her brown eyes met mine and I felt connected to her.

"Yeah Lara. He does." I said as I sat down beside her began to lay my head down on her shoulder. I wonder if she would let me…

The base commander walked in the room and I quickly straightened up. "The frontlines have been expanded. Phoenix One, you and your squadron are being relocated to Darnet City. That's going to be your new home for a while. Thanks for everything Scarface. The people of Sotoa are indebted to you." He finished off with a salute.

"Looks like it's time to go to the Sotoan mainland and goodbye to this rock." I said as I got up and walked to the door. I didn't have any real possessions except my BAF uniform, my Great Grandfather's Iron Cross (2nd Order with Oak Leaves), and some clothes. She left and went to her room, and I was falling in love as she walked away.


	13. Chapter 13

[David]

"I am glad that we are making progress in this backwoods nation." I told Lorianna as we walked towards our SU-37s. "How about you?"

"Yes. I miss The Fatherland." Lorianna said quietly,

"The Fatherland?" I replied, she had no Belkan accent. What other countries could have been called 'The Fatherland'? We stopped as we stood beside her SU-37. Her brown eyes then started into my blue ones and felt like a eternity before I broke the stare. "You don't look or sound like a Belkan."

"I'm from Farbanti, Erusea." she replied softly.

So she is from the Usean continent, more developed than this hell hole Sotoa. I would rather die than stay on this wretched island though.

"So I know your from Belka. And I definitely know David is not your real name."

"I… uh, my real name is Erich."

"Erich what?" her raven colored hair really brought out the brown in her eyes.

"Erich Klinsmann."

"So David or Erich, Wolfgang and Gunther both have interesting stories, what is yours?" she poked at my chest after saying that.

"I flew with the 23rd Tactical Fighter Squadron "Gelb". But was not present during the Battle of Directus, I got shot down thirty minutes before the call was sent in for reinforcments. Right over the damn Great Lakes. I was rescued by my fellow Belkans and I learned later that day that my flight lead Orbert Jager got killed. He was a great pilot. I guess that's the reason why I am acting the way I do."

"Being pissed off all the time? You and the other Belkans have been traumatized. Wolfgang and Gunther experianced firsthand the destruction of their homeland and you lost a good man."

"It's more than that. I was shot down during Operation Battleaxe along with some of my other servicemen. That's when I decided to leave. After a week of just walking through the desolate wasteland, I made it back and presented myself as being a regular civilian, then I made my way to… do some soul searching.""That's when you joined us." She then gave me a light hug,

"I am still a rookiee, perhaps you could train me?""Yes, I can and I will." She then ran off to her jet and I watched her climb the laddar into her jet, waved goodbye, and waited for Wolfgang to launch.

"Alright guys, we are moving to Darnet City Airbase." Angelwing said as we started to take off. First was Wolfgang, then it was Gunther, Lara, Lorianna, and myself.

[Wolfgang]

I knew for a fact that we are doing quite well. Being reassigned to Darnet City was the best thing to happen this year. Our Five SU-37s flew in standard formation with a C-5 and Anglewing flying behind us. I also knew that the enemies we have been fighting will become more determined to take us down than any other enemy we have ever faced as individuals.

"Hey Wolfgang." A young voiced calmly spoke. It was Gunther."Yeah Gunther?"

"I've been wondering, what do you think will happen when we reach Darnet?" he sounded full of remorse." I wonder as well. Can't be anything to bad." Lara replied. "Don't put too much thought into it."I then tried my best to comfort myself inside the cockpit to no avail. But hell, I still loved this plane."Hmm, at least there wont be anyone shooting at us."

David said."True that." Lara added, "I wonder how stable the government is?"

"It only can get better, we are giving everyone in Sotoa hope along with Kaluga and Romney." I replied.

The mainland was slowly becoming visible in the horizon, the sun bathed the land and gave it a dark greenish-brown color. Tiny rectangular prisms dotted the land mass."Scarface squadron, we have you on radar. Prepare for landing in Darnet City Airforce base. We got a major operation planned for today. Land and prepare for briefing."Great. Well, we can only ask so much from this nation. All for today. Maybe the Sotoans have gained enough moral to strike against the rebels that are tainting there land. Whatever the case, I'm ready for what's to come.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Wolfgang Schmidt is Scarface 1, Lara Nagase is Scarface 2, Günter Heimoroth is Scarface 3, Lorianna Cantor is Scarface 4, and David Klinsmann is Scarface 5. Just a preemptive solution to confusion.

"Alright Scarface squadron. I'm going to make a couple of things clear. Firstly, you will stop referring to each other by your first names during sortie." Our new Commanding officer griped as we sat in our seats. "You are fighting for the mainland now and you will fight like a real military force."

We sat here in this room with no window. The Darnet City airbase was a lot cleaner than the one back at the island. It actually smelt decent compared to the jungle. The two skyscrapers were still smoking after the raid.

"Cut it base commander." A voice came out of nowhere but it turned out to be... a female Sotoan. "I'm pretty sure that even you are grateful for what they have done. Granted that they haven't hit any areas that are vital to the rebels. I am Commander Naja by the way. Last fall, a madman by the name of Le Monde was fought near the Kwangzu river delta and from what Intel we can gather is that we are dealing with the remnants of Le Monde's followers."

So this Le Monde took advantage of the collapse of the Soviet Union? That seems about right, after the fall of that alliance, many servicemen joined blood thirsty warlords to see who could run or scare the post-Soviet governments that now exist. "So." I spoke up, "So Commander Naja, did you ever face Le Monde in combat?"

"I did. He escaped unfortunately. The rest..." She glanced at my nametag, "…is classified." She paused before a projector was cut on by the base commander and showed a map of the Sotoan mainland. "Now there are three areas of interest, one is in a canyon, one is in the middle of a desert, and the other is near a quarry that the rebels are using to build up their resource pool. We have decided to split you all up for the time being."

The first thing I did was look over at Lara and Günter. Both of their jaws dropped. Günter turned his head slightly away. Erich (or David) closed his eyes and Lorianna's went pale as a ghost.

"You are all a bunch of… talented pilots to say the least." She then turned to the base commander that stood beside a projector. "Alright time, time for the briefing."

"Yes ma'am." He then turned that lights off and turned on a computer projector. Then a large map appeared on the wall of Sotoa, Kaluga, Romney, Valga, and the southern part of Europa. In the far top-left corner of the map was an inland sea that connected west Yuktobania to the outside world. Our location was marked by a large blue dot right beside Darnet City in the southern cape of Sotoa. Three red spots then appeared on several areas on the map.

"Alright, Phase One: The canyon. There is a large installation inside the canyon which is providing the terrorists with valuable Intel. There are RAH-66 Comanche's inside the ravine, in other words: be careful. Only one pilot will be dispatched on that mission."

"I'll take it." I said as I rose my hand up."

"You sure Wolfgang?" Lara asked.

"Yeah, Wolfgang, I would do it." David added,

"I respect you all and thank you for your concern for me. But trust me, I can do this." I replied. Though I might have sounded crazy.

"Ok settles Phase One. Now to Phase Two. We have discovered a weak link in the Terrorists oil distribution network. There is an oil refinery connected to four derricks in the middle of the Great Sotoan Desert. However the location of these derricks are unknown due to the area's constant sandstorms. So you are going to have to follow the pipeline to the derricks. We do know the location of the main refinery though. Now who is going here…?" She then paused and looked at Günter and Lara. "You two. What are your names?

"I'm Günter Heimoroth." Günter spoke as the then added, "Your sending me into the desert aren't you? I hate the desert! Please don't send me there... After being stationed in Futuro Canal. I have had it with deserts in general!" He sounded quite angry not angry as in mad but sad.

"Calm down Günter!" I said, "If you have this fear of deserts, now it's the time to get over it!"

"Right, it's an order. I'll go…."

"I'm glad that's over." Then she looked at Lara. "What's your name?"

"Lara Nagase." It looked like Naja was embracing for another outburst. But Lara remained calm and collected. "I'll take care of you Günter. We are going on the sortie in pairs. Right Naja?"

"Yeah except for Wolfgang, there's not enough room in the ravine for two pilots." Naja continued to talk, "That leaves the quarry for…" She then glanced at David and Lorianna.

"David."

"And Lorianna."

"Good will be briefing you all according to team. I do however wish luck to you all as a whole."

July 15, 1995

Darnet City, Sotoa

The briefing room was empty unless you count Naja and me. For once I was able to get a good glance at her. She had a couple of scars on her hands and one small one on the top of her right eye. Her eyes were as brown as mud. Her hair was long and tied into a ponytail and she wore a tan uniform. "I've waited a while to meet the squad leader that has proven his and his squadron's worth in battle… Captain."

"What is that supposed to mean Commander Naja?" I replied, honestly what is she going at?

"I wasn't lying when I said we are dealing with Le Monde's remnant army. But here's my question to you: can I trust you."

She moved closer to me, in a very slow manner. "Naja?" I muttered.

"So I can tell you have been through a lot. You were in the Belkan Air force?"

"Ja, I was." I didn't think I sounded too comfortable.

"Did you ever met anyone by the name of Wolfgang 'Hucklebein' Buchner?" she queried, how did she know Pops?

"Yes I knew him." I then quieted myself and sounded threatened, "Are you accusing me of something?"

"No I am not, Captain Schmidt. And don't feel threatened by me. I am more of an ally then an enemy, by any means. You see before the Belkan War, I was part of a top secret organization known as 'Strike'. Strike's goal was to stop wars before they happened. Granted we failed once or twice but we were damn good at what we did. As I was saying, Buchner was an operative operating in Belka and he was only a semi-active member. Information on his involvement with us is scarce and/or classified. He was a great man, Wolfgang. Now back to the story. At the end of our last campaign in Lake Dama, Yuktobania; Strike just disappeared without a trace."

That was surprising, why would a highly important Special Forces unit, Osean for that matter, just disappear without a trace?

"Now what does this all have to do with me?" I replied, now I'm intrigued by what she is telling me.

"Upon my arrival at this military base, I wanted to learn a bit about each member of this mercenary squadron. All of you are quite interesting; Three Belkans, one Osean, and one Erusean. May I ask; why did you defect?"

That was a good question. Maybe it was a spur of the moment thing? Or did my pride over Excalibur compel me to leave? Or perhaps my 'being a traitor to the nation and needed to be made an example of' ideals from Henri or Waldermar. More importantly maybe I saw Pops as being a father figure and felt the need to come to his aid while he defected. It felt like forever before I answered, "My government betrayed me."

"So, why do you fight?" she asked, "I fight to avenge Sotoa. Granted Colonel Le Monde is dead. But now we have his goons that decided to avenge him and pull this stunt."

"Why did they target Romney, Valga, and Kaluga?" I asked, I didn't get why they would target those other countries.

"You see when the Soviet Union collapsed, a large group of warlords, Special Forces, and criminals started to compete for control of the ex-soviet states. If you were to fly over the see over the Sea of Karinoskov to the north east portion of the map, there are about 17 ships that are disabled. Perfect example of the chaos that ensured after who usurped control and all."

"I never thought that all of that stuff happened. All I remember was the failed coup against Yeltnovich's government. Though all us Belkans were concerned was rebuilding our military and infrastructure." I answered.

"There are still some Yuktobanian commanders that we have reason to believe that are still loyal to the coup forces that tried to take control of Yuktobania several years ago. Though we don't have any confirmation, but why else would these forces have access to Yuktobanian weaponry?"

"Good point Naja." I replied, "Could it be that some of the ex-soviet stockpiles are getting sacked?"

"True, and for the past couple of days we have been monitoring the flagship of the Karinoskov fleet; the YNS Admiral Tsanev which was being refitted at Okchabirsk during the uprising of the Karinoskov fleet."

So a Yuktobanian Fleet Admiral rose up against the main government also? That's a surprise unless one of those warlords she's been telling me about decided to steal the fleet. Which would be very hard to do? Perhaps they were all moth-balled until an absolute state of war was declared and they could beef up their forces in a short amount of time? That would've made more sense seeing how they were at a state of military readiness but could afford to leave their western parameter with a quarter of the fleet and send the other three quarters to a naval base on the east coast of Yuktobania.

"So this fleet, why hasn't Yuktobania fix them up?" I asked, surely the fleet protecting Yuktobania's western frontier had to be in... well to make a bad pun, Ship-Shape.

"They have other priorities. That's all I can say. Like selling off aircraft to other countries like Erusea and Belka. Like those Migs and your squadron's SU-37s? They are all Yuke made. The Yuke government needed money after the collapse of the Soviet Union." She then took a quick glance at her watch, "We have to continue this chat later on Captain Schmidt. You have a mission to go on."

"Ok."

"This conversation is between you and me." She concluded, "That was a nice chat Captain."

"Thanks." We then both got up and gave a salute. I guess it's time for Günter and Lara to be briefed. I guess I'll be on my way to the ravine.

"And Captain Schmidt." She called,

I turned around with my hand holding the door knob. "Yes?"

"Here's one piece of evidence that is hard to miss."

"And what is that, Commander Naja?"

"Those enemies you have been engaged with, they have all been using Osean made weapons along with Yuktobanian made weapons. Like the F-15 Eagle and Mig-31."

"Yeah good point. Wish me luck on my lone wolf mission."

A /N: My other story Ace Strike is basically the prologue to this one.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I do not own Ace Combat or any games of the Strike series, though if I did, this story would be a game… I do however own any OCs that appear in this story (Naja is a character from Nuclear Strike)

[Lara]

I stood and watched Wolfgang leave the briefing room. What took him so long? The briefing couldn't have been that long. Günter stood beside me and was the first to speak up.

"Hey Wolfgang!" he said as he walked up to him. "It's me and Lara's turn now right?"

"Ja it is. I wish you luck and don't get scared in the desert, that's a order." He joked, "You'll be just fine Günter. Oh hey Lara."

Wolfgang then walked towards me. "I hope you two will be fine."

He looked somewhat forlorn. As if there was something bothering him. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm fine Lara. All's good."

"Wolfgang if there's something you need to tell me, well, just tell me. You can tell me anything." I implied, perhaps Naja was hitting on him?

"Lara I'm fine." He then walked up to me and whispered in my ear, "I'll tell you later. Nothing happened between me and Naja."

That was a relief. But what did she tell him that would make him want to act like this?

"Ok, Wolfgang, how about over dinner in Darnet City after we get debriefed?" I can't believe I just asked him out… But to see his face blush was pretty priceless.

"Yeah…uhm… sure Lara! Ha-ha." He gave out a nervous chuckle. He must like me in return. But it seems like we both forgot that Günter was standing right beside us.

"Hey can I come?" Günter nervously said, "And if you two got married, would that make me the uncle of your children?"

Whoa, I never expected that. I could feel my cheeks feel flushed and warm. Then, I looked at Wolfgang and he had the same reaction.

"Günter, ha-ha, I don't think we are going to get married." I said, giggling. "What do you think Wolfgang?"

"Yeah, Lara." He smiled lightly, "The idea is outlandish isn't it?"

"Yeah, and I suppose you would be an uncle if one of us got married." I said,

"Ha-ha, well Lara, you and Günter are next." Wolfgang informed as he started to walk away. "And Lara, I look forward to our 'date.' "He then winked and continued on. Leaving me standing here with Günter… ready for our briefing.

[Erich]

I was able to catch Wolfgang before he went off on his sortie. He appeared to be a bit happy for once. "Hey Wolfgang." I greeted him with a handshake. "I have decided to cool down."

"Oh hey Erich. Or should I call you David? That's good." He said as he stood beside his Super Flanker. "Something up?"

"Not really. Though there is something that still bothers me." I replied,

"What is that? Being flight leader, I feel it necessary to be somewhat of a counselor."

"Oh no, that's not necessary really." I said, I was still in morning, which is why I have been acting the way I've been.

"Don't worry." He winked, "You can tell me anything."

"It's about my Belkan War days. Remember the Golden Cormorants?" I was referring to Gelb 1 and Gelb 2 of the Belkan Air Force.

"Yeah there were three of them. I always wondered what happened to Gelb 3." Wolfgang held his hand close to his mouth pondering the third missing Cormorant.

"I am that Cormorant. Number three." I said as I remembered what happened the day that Directus was liberated by the Allied Nations. "We were flying near the Great Lakes state and then we were ambushed by several Yuktobanian MIG-29s. They were rookies and till this very day I can't believe that…" "That what, Erich?" Wolfgang said as he put his hand on my left shoulder.

"They shot me down after I shot one of theirs down. A couple of hours later, our comrades rescued me and gave me the news that Jager was killed. If only I performed a lot better than those Yukes, Orbert could still be alive today." I couldn't believe but I managed to shed a tear.

"Erich, you all were exhausted. I used to listen to battle reports all the time and how things were going on the Western Front. I wished I could've flown more, but after what our Government did to me, I was severely limited on what sorties I could fly. They stripped me of my entire honor. And I am pretty sure Orbert would be glad to have known that his two finest wingman survived."

"You're a good leader Wolfgang. But I am going to make a pledge."

I know what I am about to do. I will swear that I will never lose a wingman. To follow orders to the detail and become the Ace that lives for Pride and Honor. In which, I have always felt the Demon Lord of being quite the adversary.

"What is that Erich?"

"I have always lived by the Code of the Belkan Knights. And I can tell you have to."

"The ole Teutonic Knight's code? Yeah, why?" Wolfgang waited eagerly for me to announce my plans. The Teutonic Knights of Belka were the most honorable group that our nation has ever produced.

"I will vow never to lose a wingman and that to always protect the weak."

"You're a good man, Erich." He then shook my hand, "Für Gott dienen wir, jetzt und für immer. "

That is the old Belkan Teutonic Motto which means 'for god do we serve, Now and Forever'.

""Für Gott dienen wir, jetzt und für immer. My Friend." I replied and gave him a salute. "Good Luck on your Sortie Wolfgang. And do me a favor."

"What is that my friend?"

"Stop calling me Erich. Its David now."

"Alright Dave."

[Günter]

We sat down as quickly as we could to pay close attention to Naja. Apparently she would be briefing us for now on. The guard quickly dimmed the lights and walked quickly to dim the lights.

"Alright Scarface 2 and 3, your mission is to go into the desert region; destroy the enemy refinery and surrounding oil derricks. Doing so will severely cripple their supply infrastructure. Be careful we have had reports of several stealth units operating in this area of operations. Just remember the Golden Rule: be careful. Any questions?" Naja ordered she was very concise with what she wanted us to do. I do admit, I did shuttered at the word 'Desert.'

"Yeah I have a question." Lara piped up, "Why destroy it when we can recapture it with our troops?"

She made quite a good point. We could just perform support and let the Sotoans attempt to recapture it.

"Because Lara, our troops are busy on the front lines. I understand that recapturing the oil refinery would be the smart thing to do, but we are low on time. This could be the operation that makes us or breaks us. But here's something I can happily say."

I wonder what it could be...

"The Allied Nations from the Belkan War are going to start helping us with logistics!" she happily exclaimed, "The Belkan War is close to being over and Yuktobanian Premier Blukolin has decided that it's Yuktobania's job as a superpower to help out its neighbors that are involved with this rebellion. In turn Sotoa, Kaluga, Romney, and Valga are now members of the Allied Nations. "She said as the map zoomed out to reveal the world and Sotoa, Kaluga, Romney, and Valga being shaded in blue, alongside the allied nations of: Osea, Yuktobania, Ustio, and Sapin.

That was good for the Yukes to do such a good deed. I guess another name for the Belkan War now could be World War Two. Unlike the Great War of the 40s. Though I do feel great sorrow for my Fatherland. But it's not Belka's fault. The blame should be placed on my brother (Michael Heimoroth), Waldemar Rald, and the rest of his SS.

"So anyway people, you all are dismissed!" Naja said as the lights were brightened and the projector was turned off. "And tell Scarface 4 and 5 to come in. You know, Lorianna and David?"

"Yes Ma'am." I replied, quickly following Lara. That was a pretty quick briefing.

[Wolfgang]

"Scarface one your mission is to fly through the ravine. Engage any target with extreme prejudice. You will be ordered under radio silence. Commander Naja out."

Here I was flying through this damn ravine, though I'm glad it's in my Super Flanker. This has been my signature aircraft ever since I defected and she's been mighty good to me. But the gears were turning.

Not the gears in the aircraft, but the gears in my head. Who is Naja really? What is her allegiance? And what does Pops have to do in all of this?

To hypothesize: I think or would hope that Naja is telling the truth. That this 'Le Monde' guy really is dead and that this rebel force is nothing more than his band of goons that decided to avenge his death. Granted since Naja is a secret agent, she could very well be playing the cast of the villain in this little story. Though I can easily debunk that theory. I trusted Pops and since Naja claimed that she knew him, could that mean I have a possibility of trusting Naja? My mind is getting the head of me. I almost hit the canyon wall. Then I struggled to get my aircraft leveled out again. One mistake and that could be the end of me.

Then I saw a RAH-66 Comanche hovering around I would guess to be six hundred feet. Where in the hell did they get Comanche's from? I then aimed my rocket launcher and fired two rockets at the bird and one missed. "Damn it….." I said quickly and quietly before the second rocket hit the chopper right in the cockpit. No survivors.

The spaces here were hard to fly through. Confusing. Hard even. Since I blasted that helicopter, I've had numerous close calls with the walls of this damn canyon. Then I saw another helicopter and he fired his main gun at me. I then proceeded to roll three times to avoid getting hit and when I was about seven hundred feet from him, I launched 2 rockets and one hit him in the left wing and the other in the rotor blades.

I couldn't believe that Lara 'asked me to dinner'. Hell, my Belkan brethren launched an unexpected attack on her home country and I was the one that spearheaded the assault. But what am I to tell her of what I managed to accomplished? That I practically destroyed Oseans first line of defense? Again, asking myself more questions that need not be answered. She probably has something she wants to tell me is all.

The next two RAH-66s flew in a very tight formation so taking them out was quite easy as I launched a volley of five rockets. Two missed. I then continued at cruise speed and took a quick look at the radar. I was almost to the installation that I was ordered to destroy. The canyon then narrowed up a lot so I was forced to fly with my right wing pointed to the ground and barely made it through as I yet again almost ate the rocks. Then the massive enemy radar installation (which was a giant radar dish mounted to a building).

Then I proceeded to launch fifteen rockets at it. First the dish fell off onto the ground and from the cockpit I could hear the huge thud and metal grinding from where it landed. The other rockets that I launched right after the dish fell off wrecked the remaining parts of the building. My mission was complete at last. Then I climbed up at an angle of 60 degrees (at least that's what the HUD could tell me). Evidently, that installation controlled the SAMS in the area so now I can return to base in peace.

A/N: Next up is Lara and Günter's mission into the desert.


	16. OC Submission Form

**So it's been awhile since I have shown this story any love, so I decided to let the readers submit OCs for a rival mercenary squadron. I do hope I get some interesting OCs for this role. Any and all OCs will be considered. Thanks :). **

OC Submission Form

Name:

Gender:

Age:

Appearance:

Hometown:

History:

Personality:

Likes:

Dislikes:

Strengths:

Weaknesses:

Goal:

Partner (signature) Pokemon:

Other Pokemon:


	17. Chapter 16

[Lara]

"Just stay on my six." I said to Gunther as we continued to fly into the desert.

"Roger…" Gunther said as I checked to make sure he was behind me. "Lara, I hate the desert."

"Yeah I remember back at the airbase." I should try to comfort him. "But it can't be all that bad. I've been through worse."

"What do you mean?" he asked, I could by his voice that he didn't want to be here. "Weren't you just a regular Osean before we got into this?"

"Not really." I replied, "I fought in the Belkan War."

The mic went silent before he responded, "You did?"

"Yeah." I replied, knowing that he would want to hear more, but I opted to end this conversation now. "But I don't really want to talk about it Gunther." I looked on the radar and noticed a couple of ground installations (white radar blips) on my radar, "Besides we are at the refinery. Switch to rockets."

[Gunther]

I was interested in knowing what Lara did during the Belkan War. She was a good pilot but there was something else about her I couldn't place. It was as if she was a fifty year old war veteran in a young women's body. I did as she said and switched to rockets.

"You see those Oil Containers? Fire your rockets one at a time at each of them. I will be firing mine at the AA guns."

I followed the order without question. Sure enough the impacts from the rockets busted the containers and caused a wild fire to erupt on the refinery. I would hate to have been a ground soldier. Brilliant lights filled the area as the base burned. "Good shots." She exclaimed as I continued to follow her.

[Lara]

That… was…. Awesome. That would be something to tell Wolfgang about tonight. "Hey Gunther."

"Yeah?"

I then turned my aircraft to scan the surrounding area. There were four pipelines that protruded the refinery. I then looked at my long range radar to find that there was a long pipeline that sent all of the oil away from this area to the north. That means we are going to have to go to follow the other three pipelines and destroy whatever targets HQ gave us. "Stay on my six."

"Yes Ma'am!"

[Gunther]

Again I followed my orders without question. She obviously knew what she was doing. I still hated this damn desert. But atleast I was getting cussed at for it. But as I followed her, I couldn't fathom why she didn't want to talk about that war. Hell, I don't know why I want to talk about it with her.

"Bogies, only two of them. You know what to do."

"Yep roger that."

I then pulled back on the stick to bring up my altitude to about two thousand feet. Lara appeared to stay at around one thousand five hundred feet. The enemy F-15 then tried to engage Lara by making a sharp dive on her. I then pushed the stick to follow him.

"Bandit my tail, think you can you raze him?" Lara asked.

"Of course." I replied as I shot my main gun at him. It was quite hard for me to actually aim him as he constantly barrel rolled. Afterwards, I let off one my missles which nailed him in the left wing and caused him to eject.

"It would have been nasty if I flew into him after he bailed." I said as we chased the other bandit down. I think that the plane we shot down was actually the leader of the team, since the other F-15 started to disengage.

"Yeah it would've been." She replied as we continued our way to the first site.

[Lara]

It felt like a eternity before we reached the Eastern site. The sandstorm stilled messed with our radar. I can't believe that they would have sent us to this AO in such conditions. It was appalling.

"What should we target, Lara?" Gunther said as we were about five thousand feet away from the enemy targets.

"From what I remember, shoot the oil tanks and the derrick." I said as I readied my rockets. "I just readied my rockets, you should too."

"Alright." Gunther said as I heard a volley for rockets rained out of his plane to the targets, decimating them. We did the same to the other sites.

"That was not so bad, was it?" I sad as we exited the airspace.

"No not really. Danke, Lara. You did a good job leading just like Wolfgang would've." He said happily. I was glad to have gotten his stamp of approval, after all, we are in this together.

[Later on]

[Erich]

"I suppose we are next, Naja?" I asked as me and Lorianna sat down beside each other.

"Yeah. Before we start. Tell me about your engagment in the Belkan War?" Naja said as Lorianna took a small glance at me.

I don't have anything to hide. I was fighting for the Fatherland.

"I flew with the TAC name 'Reiher.' And I was a member of the 'Gelb' team. In Osean, that would be 'Yellow.' I was damaged en route to Directus and our leader ordered me to return to base. Gelb 1 and 2 were in great shape compared to me. Afterwards I heard that lead got KIA and Gelb 2 was arrested as a PoW. Maybe not being able to fight alongside them is why I can be hot at sometimes. But flying with Wolfgang. I feel... different. Not flying with emotion is what Wolfgang does. A true knight. In a sense, he's my role model. I know a man my age can't say anyone is my role model. " wow saying that has made me a somewhat of a different person. I have had all this in my chest. It feels good letting it all out. "

Then I wanted to put my skills to the test and flew into the Round Table. Even when I got shot down by The Demon Lord himself. Sure I was angry but at the same time.. I respected him. He is after all human. I then left the Belkan Airforce and began soul-searching. And I am still soul-searching to this very day. I am good, but I want a equal. I rival. Not a demon lord to face off against. But a true rival to face in a dogfight."

"That was real deep, Erich." Lorianna said, "Erusea has a good airforce. Why don't we join up with them after this affair is settled? They are a rising power. Plus our culture is very similar to Belka."

"I might take up that offer." I said, "it would make a good home. I suppose"

"Alright you two Eruseans, I'm going to expain your next mission. By the way, Erich or David. I hope whatever venture you take will make you happy." Naja smiled as she brought up the projector. "Alright theres a area forty miles west of Donet city. The enemy has proved to have significant resources. This war of attrition is not to our advantage. We are now targeting a key resource plant. Our intelligence reports stealth fighters operating in this theater. Remember, their lack of radar signature makes visual sighting essential in order to shoot them down."

A/N: Writers block had me good on this chapter. I know it's extremely rough and whatnot, but I am glad its done.


End file.
